the times | Tuesday April 5 2022 45
Broadband company bosses are under
pressure from the government to take
“urgent action” to raise awareness of
low-cost social tariffs.
Nadine Dorries, the digital secretary,
has written to six providers, including
BT and Virgin Media O2, raising con-
cerns about the low uptake of the offers
and requesting that the companies do
more to promote them.
The special discounted broadband
packages, known as social tariffs, are
available to an estimated 4.2 million
households on universal credit.
However, only 55,000 homes have
accessed them, or about 1.2 per cent of
those eligible, according to recent
Give the poor cheaper broadband, demands Dorries
figures from Ofcom. It means millions
of benefits recipients are missing out on
an average annual broadband saving of
£144 each, the regulator found.
Ofcom has been pressing companies
to promote the deals more widely and
to ensure it is “swift and simple for
customers to sign up”.
In her letter, Dorries said “broad-
band has transformed people’s lives as
we become a more digital society” and
it was “vital we raise awareness of dis-
count broadband offers for low-income
households”.
The secretary of state, who has also
called on all providers to offer social
tariffs, has asked bosses for details of
their plans to promote them and their
estimates of take-up in the next year.Six broadband providers, including
also Community Fibre, G.Network,
Hyperoptic and KCOM, offered at least
one of the discounted deals, as of
February, with the packages priced
between £10 and £20 a month.
Take-up is “extremely low”, with the
vast majority of benefit recipients
(84 per cent) unaware of social tariffs.
There has been “limited evidence of
providers actively promoting their
social tariffs to eligible customers”,
Ofcom has warned, as deals “don’t gen-
erally feature in broadband advertising
or price comparison website searches”.
The calls come amid the cost of living
squeeze on food, fuel and utility bills,
driven by rising inflation, including
price rises across the telecoms industry.Average annual broadband bills are
increasing by £2.86 a month, and £34.33
over the course of the year, according to
recent research by Hyperoptic.
About 1.1 million households, 5 per
cent, are struggling to afford their home
broadband service, according to a re-
port from Ofcom in February, rising to
one in ten among the lowest-income
households.
Switching to a social tariff could offer
some relief. A standard commercial
broadband package costs an unem-
ployed person claiming universal credit
an average of £27 a month, or 8.3 per
cent of their monthly disposable
income. A £15 social tariff would almost
halve broadband costs.
Broadband providers are also underpressure to provide better support to
customers suffering financial hardship.
They are required to work more closely
with debt charities and to avoid impos-
ing service restrictions to force pay-
ments, under recently issued proposals.
A spokesman for BT said it was “dis-
appointed” other operators had not in-
troduced a social broadband tariff. “We
believe it is now urgent that they do so,
and if they do not, government should
empower Ofcom to require this.”
A spokesman for Virgin Media O2
said it was asking the government to in-
crease awareness and “on ways to make
sign-up easier and quicker, moving
from a manual to an automated process
with regards to identifying individuals
or families receiving universal credit”.Alex Ralph
Business
P
olestar, the zero-
emission offshoot
of Volvo, is making
a bid to become as
well-known as
Tesla by signing a £3 billion
deal to provide tens of
thousands of vehicles to
Hertz, the global rental
group (Robert Lea writes).
Polestar’s ultimate owner
is Geely of China, which is
planning to float it on the
New York Stock Exchange.
It has signed a deal to
supply 65,000 electric cars
to Hertz over the next five
years. It is expected that
Polestar 2 cars, which retail
at nearly £50,000, will be
available for hire in Europe
from the end of this year.
Hertz is attempting to
place itself as the rental
firm of choice for those who
want to hire an electric car.
It already has a £4 billion
deal with Tesla to take
100,000 of its Model 3 and
Model Y vehicles.
During the pandemic
lockdowns Hertz had to
seek court refuge from itscreditors. It came out of
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protections last summer.
Stephen Scherr, chief
executive of Hertz, said:
“By working with electric
vehicle-industry leaders
like Polestar, we can helpaccelerate the adoption of
electrification [for] renters,
corporate customers and
rideshare partners [who
want] a lower carbon
footprint.”
Thomas Ingenlath,
Polestar’s chief executive,said it would bring his cars
to a wider audience.
Polestar is based in
Sweden but manufactures
in China. It does some
engineering and design
research and development
in Coventry, where it buildsthe LEVC hybrid London
black cab and also owns
Lotus, the sports car maker.
Polestar expects to be
producing 290,000 vehicles
a year by 2025. That is more
than the current production
runs of Jaguar Land Rover.Hertz leads the
charge with
deal for 65,000
Polestar cars
TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGESWM Morrison
flags up threat
from inflation
Ashley ArmstrongProfits and sales at WM Morrison
could be materially hit by inflationary
pressures and the worsening geopoliti-
cal environment, the supermarket has
warned investors.
The Bradford-based grocer, acquired
by Clayton Dubilier & Rice in a £7.1 bil-
lion deal last year, said that it believed
consumer sentiment and spending had
been weakening since the beginning of
February, which “had an impact on
sales and earnings before interest tax
depreciation and amortisation”.
Morrisons said: “Unless these condi-
tions improve, the impact could have a
material adverse effect on our sales and
Ebitda for the year.”
Supply chain disruptions during the
13 weeks to January 30 cost the business
£44 million. Total sales edged 1.2 per
cent higher to £4.56 billion from
£4.5 billion during the period, helped by
a 46 per cent jump in fuel sales to
£841 million. The group’s adjusted Ebit-
da fell from £350 million to £316 million
during the quarter.
The gloomy update to investors
comes at a tricky time for CD&R, which
is gearing up to refinance about £4.5 bil-
lion in loans and bonds it used to fund
its takeover and needed to provide new
financials to the market.Polestar, owned by Geely of China, has signed a deal to supply 65,000 electric cars to Hertz car rentals over the next five years