Final yr we revealed (right here) that Ofcom’s April 2023 deadline for the launch of One Contact Change (OTS), which is able to make it simpler for shoppers emigrate between broadband ISPs on totally different networks, was at excessive threat of delay. The most recent data means that some key elements gained’t even be prepared to check till late 2023.
First, the compulsory recap. At current switching between ISPs, at the very least on Openreach’s nationwide community, is a simple and largely automated Gaining Supplier Led (GPL) course of (i.e. simply contact your new ISP and so they’ll get the ball rolling). However this doesn’t work for operators on bodily separate networks, reminiscent of Cityfibre, Hyperoptic, Virgin Media and lots of extra (Abstract of UK Full Fibre Builds).
NOTE: The previous switching course of allowed 10 workings days for the change, largely to guard towards SLAMMING (i.e. being switched with out your categorical consent), however the brand new system goals to do that in simply 1 day “the place technically potential” (the viability of that is still questionable).
Ofcom’s resolution to this was the OTS course of, which in easy phrases goals to increase the GPL migration to incorporate different networks, whereas additionally decreasing buyer downtime and prices. However getting this proper throughout a number of community platforms is a vastly complicated and technical problem. However, in 2021 ISPs got till third April 2023 to implement every part (again in 2020 the unique deadline was proposed to be Dec 2022).
The largest ISPs, significantly people who have already adopted Ofcom’s authentic migration system, arguably have life a bit simpler as a result of they’re already aware of some elements of this type of system. However for a lot of others, particularly smaller networks that always complain about poor communication from Ofcom, it could be extra a baptism of fireplace. However, to ensure that this to perform correctly, all ISPs would wish to work collectively.
In response, ISPs throughout the trade established The One Contact Switching Firm (TOTSCo) as a not-for-profit automobile – owned by the membership – to take accountability for the event and operation of the associated messaging platform. However this was solely setup in June 2022 and that left little or no time for improvement and testing of a particularly complicated system, which for a lot of suppliers meant successfully ranging from scratch (see final yr’s article for extra element).
Suffice to say that it didn’t take lengthy for TOTSCo to begin warning that it could “not be potential to fulfill Ofcom’s April 2023 deadline“, though once we queried this with Ofcom final yr they had been nonetheless sustaining the April 2023 deadline and “[expected] all suppliers to work with them and ensure they’re totally prepared at launch.”
In equity, some ISPs, reminiscent of CommunityFibre, Vodafone, Zen Web, have indicated that they’ll be prepared in time (questionable since they’ll all want to interact through TOTSCo for that to be totally viable). However a lot of the different suppliers that we spoke with had been extraordinarily pessimistic on the timeline, in addition to being extremely essential of Ofcom’s “poor communication” (some AltNets didn’t even realise OTS utilized to them).
The Newest Replace
Simply to recap. The OTS Trade Course of, and the preliminary specification of the API (Utility Programming Interface) wanted to interface with the messaging capabilities of TOTSCo’s Hub, had been printed on the TOTSCo web site in October 2022 (this permits customers to begin the very early improvement of their very own methods and processes). However truly constructing all this after which testing it was by no means going to be fast or straightforward.
The excellent news is that TOTSco has been making sturdy progress since then. Robust in that the organisation is so new, however not in respect of truly assembly Ofcom’s deadline. The group held a Stakeholder Discussion board in mid-December 2022, which was attended by round 150 figures from throughout the UK Telecoms trade. On account of that, and the responses from ISPs, we now have a greater thought of the place the market at the moment stands.
Now the unhealthy information. TOTSCo knowledgeable ISPreview.co.uk that it’s nonetheless too early to present a transparent go-live date for OTS, which is able to rely upon how the event and testing goes as soon as the Hub itself is definitely out there (it isn’t reside but). The present “finest estimate” for when the Hub itself will probably be out there for customers in a “take a look at atmosphere” is at the moment sooner or later between August and November 2023 (topic to revision as discussions proceed). This means to us that full deployment could not occur till 2024, since testing throughout such a posh market will in all probability take months.
As one main broadband ISP informed us late final yr – “It’s not that we gained’t be prepared in April – it’s that the entire trade gained’t be prepared.” The large query now, given this considerably unavoidable actuality, is what’s going to Ofcom do – use the carrot (i.e. patiently delay the implementation, probably by one other yr) or the stick (i.e. fines / punishment of some type till it’s prepared).
We now have requested the regulator and await their response. In any case, no quantity of wishful pondering or punishment goes to keep away from the truth that OTS will want much more time earlier than it may be totally carried out. Such a delay can even be damaging to suppliers too, since constructing take-up of latest full fibre networks is one thing that will be vastly improved by a quicker, easier (for shoppers at the very least) and extra streamlined migration course of.