Vaizey: Openreach customer service 'woeful'

During a debate among MPs in the House of Commons, a clear agreement between all parties was found when discussing Openreach's quality of customer service.

The discussion came after an Ofcom review into BT's competitiveness regarding its network and told BT that it must give its competitors full access. Failing to do this could result in the splitting up of Openreach, BT's network infrastructure wing.

MPs from the different parties gave evidence of the issues constituents had faced. Caroline Nokes, Tory MP, who led the debate, listed a lack of capacity at BT's cabinets as a one of the leading causes for concern.

Ed Vaizey, broadband minister, stated during the debate that complaining about Openreach's service was like 'the forced adoption of an unruly teenager'.

“I'm completely at the end of my tether; I agree with all the complaints made by all my colleagues in this debate, and I'm going to make sure there is action. I have no truck with Openreach, and its customer service levels, they are absolutely woeful,” he said.

Vaizey warned that BT had to take on board the recommendations of what Ofcom is proposing, particularly over its customer service level improvements and warned of future legislation if BT fails to “take it seriously”.

Current proposals is compensation for consumers and businesses when there are issues surrounding engineer call-outs, faults and repairs with the lines.

Vaizey stated that “at the moment I understand we won't need legislation, but I expect Ofcom will begin publishing service quality performance data on all operators from the beginning of next year”.

He also called for ISPs to be open and fair with revealing landline rental prices, which he claims are often hidden by other promotions.

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(Image: Bidgee)