Update on Covid-19: Further Detail Supplier

Recently, we provided several updates from our suppliers regarding changes to their services. Today we wanted to provide further detail on what these changes mean. This is still very much an evolving picture, which we will continue to provide updates over the coming days and weeks.

Today’s update covers:

• How we will be prioritising work
• How we will identify and prioritise vulnerable groups and information changes
• Additional Questions engineers will ask
• Prioritisation of critical national infrastructure

1. How Elite Group work will be prioritised.

Elite group will use the following priority principles:

• Bluelight services
• Critical national infrastructure
• Welfare customers
• ‘COVID at risk’
• Customers with no service
• Repair (total loss of service)
• Provisioning (new line where none exist)
• Customers with significantly degraded service
• Customers with intermittent service
• Other repair and provisioning jobs

2. How Elite Group will identify and prioritise vulnerable groups

Elite group will continue to work with our customers to identify ‘COVID at risk’ individuals in order to prioritise these orders and faults.

Criteria:

• The customer meets the Public Health England criteria for ‘COVID at Risk’.  E.g. Pregnant / Over 70 / under 70 with an underlying medical condition.
• The customer has no working telephony service.
• The premise does not have access to a mobile.

If the above applies to you or one of your employees that rely on the service delivered by Elite Group please confirm this at point of request.

If any of the above are applicable to you or your business we may ask whether anyone within the premise is showing any symptoms. We also ask that should you be aware of anyone displaying symptoms within the premise that you inform us at point of request.

If the answer is “Yes” we will be informing our suppliers and/or engineers as a pre-cautionary measure

Where a person is displaying symptoms and are within the premise Elite Group will try to provide service up to the property. When safe to do so they will complete the work in the premise (this could be on the day if safe or a mutually agreed later date). If we are unable to provide service on the day, we will advise you as soon as possible.

3. Questions engineers will ask.

Where an Elite group or supplier engineer is attending a property, they will continue to ask if anyone:

• Has anyone in the premises been diagnosed with COVID-19, has been asked to self-isolate, or has been travelling to a coronavirus high-risk area or country in the last 14 days?
• Is anyone in the premises suffering from flu-like symptoms?

If the answer to either of those questions is yes, the engineer will not enter the premises and the job will be reappointed for four weeks later.

If the answer to both questions is no the engineer will enter the premises taking additional precautions (such as asking the customer to vacate to another room)

Time in the premises will be limited to providing service to the Network Terminating Equipment (NTE) – additional work such as removing bridge taps, shifts, internal wiring/additional cabling, etc. will not be done

4. Prioritisation of critical national infrastructure.

Critical national infrastructure orders will be prioritised in the following ways:

• Emergency COVID-19 Response
• Enhanced Director of Service Office (DSO) for Critical National Infrastructure
• Approved DSO Orders
• Standard Orders

More information will be shared as we receive further updates and we will continue engagement with our suppliers and you to ensure you have the latest information.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact your Account or Service Manager.