Virgin Media has been hit with a £23.8million penalty after putting thousands of vulnerable customers "at direct risk of harm" by cutting them off during its transition to digital landlines.

The telecoms sector is currently switching from copper-based landlines to digital telephone networks. However, during an investigation, Ofcom discovered Virgin failed to properly identify and log the status of telecare customers in November and December 2023.

This meant those impacted didn't get the right level of assistance during the changeover process. Telecare customers rely on emergency alarm systems that link to monitoring services.

Ofcom discovered some telecare devices couldn't connect to alarm monitoring centres whilst their networks were cut off. The regulator said this placed thousands of

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