Virgin Media fined £23.8million after putting customers 'at direct risk of harm'

Ofcom found Virgin failed properly to identify and record the status of telecare customers in November and December 2023

Virgin Media has been fined £23.8million after it put thousands of vulnerable customers "at direct risk of harm" by disconnecting them during its move to digital landlines.

The telecoms industry is in the middle of replacing copper based landlines to digital telephone systems. But as part of an investigation, Ofcom found Virgin failed properly to identify and record the status of telecare customers in November and December 2023.

This meant that those affected did not receive the appropriate level of support through the switch process. Telecare customers have emergency alarm systems that connect to a monitoring service.

Ofcom found some telecom devices were preven