BT has confirmed it will remove all caps on home broadband so that all customers have access to unlimited data, as the coronavirus disruption continues.
The move was revealed by BT consumer group CEO Marc Allera, with the action taken a direct response to the disruption caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
In his statement, Allera confirmed that customers will be able to use unlimited broadband as more people work from home, while all calls to 111 remain free.
Allera added that all EE stores and call centres will remain open during this lockdown, so customers can get assistance when needed.
BT and EE customers will be able to access the NHS online without using any data within their mobile plan.
BT is also removing out-of-bundle’ charges as a move to help potentially ‘vulnerable customers’, and are instead imposing a £5 monthly cap so that customers can make calls to UK landlines and mobile.
Allera also said that BT has a ‘dedicated team’ in place to deal with any financial worries that customers may have.
BT’s chief technology and information officer Howard Watson confirmed that the company has seen a five per cent drop in mobile data traffic, with users switching to WiFi instead.
He also revealed that weekly daytime traffic has grown between 35 to 60 per cent against similar days on BT’s fixed network. This has been the case since Tuesday, when more people started working from home, with traffic peaking at 7.5Tb/s.
However Watson claims this is still around half the average evening peak, and suggests its ‘nowhere near the 17.5Tb/s the network can handle’.
Meanwhile mobile data usage has peaked at around 5pm this week, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivers his daily briefing.
Watson said: “In conclusion, the COVID-19 outbreak is causing changes to the way our networks are being used. At BT, we’re monitoring those changes carefully to make sure we can respond rapidly if needed.
“However the UK’s communications infrastructure is well within its capacity limits, and has significant headroom for growth in demand. Our networks have never played a more critical role, and I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work my teams are putting in to keep the country online during this difficult time.”
