u-mee Press Release

27/3/20 - u-mee and Sapphire Networks response to Coronavirus/COVID-19 impact on local community

Following the introduction of early measures designed to help business customers adapt to the rapidly changing landscape following the Coronavirus/COVID-19 outbreak, Lawrence Isola, Chairman of local telecommunications providers Sapphire Networks and u-mee, today summarised what had already been implemented and expanded on further plans to support those affected in the weeks ahead.

Communicated to customers on 13/3/20 - summary of key points:

(i) u-mee shop at Eurotowers closed until further notice - over the counter payments no longer available. The few remaining customers not already set up for online payments were supported by extra resources last weekend.

(ii) Customers can continue to make other service changes on the u-mee online portal or contact support via usual channels (online/e-mail/telephone) 24x7.

(iii) Most staff working from home - key staff, normally based in Spain, have been relocated to temporary local accommodation to ensure service quality standards are maintained.

(iv) Installations and fault call-outs continue - staff adhering to C19 precautions when attending onsite, and customers e.g. in high-risk groups may defer installation until a later date without losing out on special offers, etc. Extra resources have been added to minimise lead times.

(v) Sapphire's small/medium-sized business customers using 'Business Fibre' benefited from a doubling of upload bandwidth last week to support the additional bandwidth burden of connected home workers. In some cases, exceptional arrangements have been implemented to facilitate business operations in the online gaming sector.

New announcements - to be communicated directly to customers over the coming days:

(i) umee Business customers - with effect 1/4/20, customers not requiring their u-mee product(s) e.g. due to closed premises, may temporarily pause these without penalty for reconnection (initially during the period from April to June).

(ii) u-mee residential customers - from April to June 2020 C19-affected u-mee households in receipt of HMGoG BEAT COVID-19 support may apply for a discount of 50%. This must be evidenced by submitting a copy of HMGoG-issued BEAT COVID-19 documentation and proof of residence/ID for each billing period. The discount will be credited to the customer's account.

u-mee residential customers otherwise already benefit from Gibraltar's fastest Internet speeds and all available TV channels without additional fees - those already using current products all receive 500Mbps as standard.

u-mee residential customers using our latest products already have access to TV and telephone apps for smartphones/tablets. 

Mr. Isola advised that the Sapphire and u-mee teams continue to monitor and review all products and services in order to support the local community during this challenging period.