All the major mobile phone and internet service providers have signed up to a government initiative to enhance mobile services so that people can properly stay in touch and work from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

BT Ireland, eir, Pure Telecom, Sky, Tesco Mobile, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone have all joined the scheme, and have committed to a series of measure to boost their subscribers’ access to phone and data services on their networks.

They have made the following commitments:

1. Fixed broadband customers who do not have unlimited usage as standard will be able to upgrade their package with their service provider.
2. A customer who does not have fixed broadband and relies on mobile access to the internet will be able to avail of an affordable unlimited mobile data access/package.
3. Fair usage policies will not be automatically applied to unlimited fixed and mobile data packages.
4. Service providers may implement appropriate permitted traffic management measures to avoid network congestion.
5. Access to healthcare and educational resource websites identified by the government will be zero-rated for all customers, where technically feasible, and use will not count towards their data allowance.
6. So that customers can remain connected during the crisis, providers will engage with any customer who is in financial difficulty as a result of Covid-19 and has difficulty paying their bills, to agree the best way of keeping them connected to voice and data.

In addition, the service providers will work with ComReg in the event of complaints to ComReg by customers who consider they are not being treated in line with these commitments.

Minister Richard Bruton (pictured) said the measures are to be implemented as soon as possible, with each company providing details and updates on their own website. The commitments will remain available until June 30, and will be reviewed if needed, Bruton added.

In Association with

ComReg commissioner Robert Mourik commented: “In order to address consumer concerns, ComReg and industry have identified a number of commitments that service providers are making to assist consumers during this difficult time. The commitments are designed to give consumers reassurance about communications usage while maintaining the overall stability of our electronic communications networks.

"These measures will also help to ensure that consumers who are financially vulnerable as a result of the Covid-19 crisis will get assistance from their service provider to agree an affordable solution for their voice and data service. Service providers may go beyond these common set of commitments and introduce additional measures for their customers.”

Customers who experience issues should contact their service provider in the first instance, before contacting ComReg’s Consumer Care Team at consumerline@comreg.ie or call 01 804 9668.