BT has handed back £18million to customers following an Ofcom probe.

The telecommunications giant was slapped with a £2.8 million penalty last year after breaching consumer protection rules by failing to deliver "clear and simple" contract details to EE and Plusnet customers before they signed up to new agreements, impacting 1.1million customers.

Some customers had already cancelled their contracts and potentially faced early termination charges before BT contacted the majority of those affected.

£18 million repayment

Ofcom declared that these people should never have been hit with early exit penalties.

BT has subsequently repaid or credited £18million to customers and contributed £440,000 across 17 charities where refunds or credits weren't possible, reports the Mirror.

Alongside the penalty, Ofcom demanded BT overhaul its sales procedures.

A BT spokesperson commented: "We're sorry that Pre-Contract information and Contract Summary documents were not available to some of our customers in a timely manner.

"We have taken steps to proactively contact affected customers and refund them if they had subsequently paid any early termination charges. We take compliance seriously at BT and have worked closely with Ofcom to implement all remedial actions."

Ofcom declared: "Our rules are clear that if the required contract summary and contract information is not given, the contract is not binding on customers. As a result, an early exit fee should not have been payable by these customers."

Meanwhile, some BT customers are set to experience significant changes as BT Openreach has unveiled the next 137 areas earmarked for a switch from traditional copper broadband and telephone lines to digital solutions like full fibre connectivity.

In the near future, millions of households will be obliged to adopt digital voice services when signing up for new broadband deals or changing providers. Those properties not yet served by Full Fibre in their area will be allowed to continue using copper until fibre optic cables are installed on their street.

BT has labelled this transition as "critical" for meeting upcoming needs.

James Lilley, Openreach's Managed Customer Migrations Manager, stated: "Taking advantage of the progress of our Full Fibre build and encouraging people to upgrade where a majority can access our new network is the right thing to do as it makes no sense, both operationally and commercially, to keep the old copper network and our new fibre network running side-by-side.

"As copper's ability to support modern communications declines, the immediate focus is getting people onto newer, future proofed technologies.

"We're moving to a digital world and Openreach is helping with that transformation by rolling out ultrafast, ultra-reliable, and future-proofed digital Full Fibre across the UK."