Payment holiday for struggling British broadband customers

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Charles Dunstone, TalkTalk

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A British broadband and phone company has taken an unusual step of giving its customers a lifeline during the credit crunch by waiving its broadband fees for six months. TalkTalk's CEO announced the package today: "We hope our Emergency Plan will keep people connected, and give them the opportunity to apply for jobs and learn new skills."

According to a press release from TalkTalk the offer is available from 30th January: "The Emergency Plan will give people suffering economic hardship free access to the internet and phone internet and phone for six months. TalkTalk will waive its £6.49 monthly charge, meaning customers on the Emergency Plan only pay line rental.

"The Emergency Plan will offer 512kbps speed, with a 1Gb download limit, inclusive UK weekend calls and anytime calls to other TalkTalk customers. Premium, international and mobile calls will be barred to help customers limit expenditure.

"The Emergency Plan will be available to all customers who have been with TalkTalk for six months or more, by calling TalkTalk customer services. Each customer’s eligibility will be judged on a case by case basis, though customers who have already been in debt to TalkTalk for more than 50 days will not be considered for inclusion until they have cleared their debt."

The package seems to have gone down well with industry commentators. Talking to WebUser, Jessica McArdle, marketing manager of Top10Broadband.co.uk, said: "TalkTalk's broadband bailout scheme is an extremely responsible answer to the problems facing broadband users as well as UK consumers as a whole."  

Meanwhile Mark Jackson, editor at ISPReview, commented: "TalkTalk certainly deserves a lot of credit for taking this move, not least because saving a few pounds per month can make a big difference if your income is extremely low or even nonexistent."

It remains to be seen whether other companies start to offer customers payment breaks during difficult economic conditions, but TalkTalk is thought to be the first telecoms company in the UK to make the move.