Posted on: 5th December 2023, by Magrathea
Welcome to the latest edition of the Magrathea Newsletter, combining news from Magrathea and around the industry.
MAGIC Portal
After a brief false start, we managed to release an update to the MAGIC portal which incorporated the existing Porting Portal and added our new Broadband Portal.
Right now you can order BT FTTP or SoGEA products but we will soon be adding All Points Fibre too. If you have a requirement for All Points Fibre beforehand do get in touch with the team as we should be able to process your order manually for you.
Early in the new year our development team will be focussing on incorporating features from our Client Portal into MAGIC, with the end goal being all of our tools contained within MAGIC for ease.
Ofcom Consultation – Revenue sharing
As usual we are seeing a small flurry of consultations ahead of the holidays. The key one we want to bring your attention to is on revenue sharing rules on the various number types. We don’t anticipate any particular concerns as this is mostly an exercise in providing clarity but it’s worth a read in case you are get caught up in any of the proposed changes. Our summary can be found here.
Ofcom Call for Inputs – Alternative Dispute Resolution
Ofcom are doing their routine review of the ADR providers and are asking for feedback. If you would like to contribute to this work please see the call for inputs here:
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0028/272359/adr-telecoms-call-for-inputs.pdf
PSTN Switch Off – Fit to Switch
Following on from some trade press activity last month, Fit to Switch are holding a formal press launch event on Tuesday 5th December. This event, being held in Westminster, aims to spread the message to politicians and mainstream press in a bid to get wider awareness this vast project. For more details about the Fit to Switch campaign please visit https://www.fittoswitch.co.uk
Gaining Provider Led Switching & Porting
The One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCO) have now announced the official ‘go-live’ date – Thursday 14th March 2024.
Retailers are being onboarded now and, if this impacts you, you really do need to start following the updates if you don’t already and TOTSCO are urging people to get signed up now so testing can get underway. They have also launched a list of Managed Access Providers that can help smaller providers access the tools a little easier.
We have produced this small graphic to help you understand your obligations.
The process for business providers is not yet quite so clear, if you serve this market you should keep an eye on here for updates: https://www.fcs.org.uk/gaining-provider-led-business-switching/
Meanwhile, Ofcom have written to the OTA asking them to lead on the work needed to improve number porting so the aims of OTS can be met. To have an “easy, quick and reliable process” means numbers as well as broadband must be simple to migrate, something that we can’t really offer assurances on today!
Work in this area is already underway as part of the Number Porting Executive Steering Group (NPESG) and currently the favourite option is to introduce a process known as ‘Express Porting’. This would essentially pre-authorise a number port where a ‘switch’ order has already gone through the authorisation process for that user.
We are continuing to monitor updates and intend to make sure our wholesale systems support you in your GPL requirements wherever possible. If you have any queries or concerns please do get in touch.
Comms Council Christmas Lunch
Magrathea are once again sponsoring the CCUK Christmas Lunch, taking place in Leicester Square on the 7th. This event kicks off the festive season for us and is a lovely opportunity to catch up with clients and prospective clients, as well as our industry colleagues. It’s also a good excuse for a few of our team to get out of the office, enjoy some great company and hear all the latest news and industry issues first hand. All whilst enjoying some lovely food and drink of course, which always helps!
Introducing Linda Waters
We are delighted to welcome Linda to the team in the role of Business Development Specialist. As many of you will be aware, we have never had a formal sales team or account managers. We have mostly relied on word of mouth referrals to pick up new clients and on our excellent support team to take care of all of our existing clients’ needs. However, after asking Laura and Hayley to focus on business development for a few months now and seeing how well that has worked we have recruited Linda to come in and help us build the momentum and grow that function.
Feedback from our client survey also told us that some clients are unsure of who to contact when they want to discuss partnerships and projects, and others told us they never really get proper time to review how our relationship is working and what more we could be doing together so we have taken that feedback on board and hope Linda is the first step in addressing this gap.
Linda will be reaching out to clients over the coming months to introduce herself and we have no doubt that you will agree she is a great addition to our team. Meanwhile here are a few words from Linda “I am relatively new to the telecommunications industry although I have spent 20+ years around the wider IT market building strong relationships with our clients. However, I am struck by how proud and passionate everyone is about the future of Magrathea, I am excited to help leverage the fantastic relationship’s I can already see we have with our clients to gain a great business focus and help the company have even more success.
What’s on our minds…
Apart from the answer to “which is best, Celebrations or Miniature Heroes?” But seriously, with the festive season rapidly approaching we are all focussed on tying up any loose ends and rounding off the year as best we can before our network freeze which takes effect on the 15th.
After that any changes to the network will be restricted to emergencies or essential works only. We are also restricting new porting orders from this date through until the New Year to take some pressure off of our porting team, who very much deserve a week or two of less pressure, and ensure the Christmas week is manageable with fewer staff whilst still being able to meet the usual timelines and handle any export requests that come in.
It’s not only the network and porting people who need a breather, we know how important rest and relaxation are to everyone on the team so we also try to reduce the amount of non-essential work we do between Christmas and New Year, but rest assured we are covering our support desk throughout and our usual emergency cover will be in place for the key holiday dates.
As always here at Magrathea we appreciate your comments and feedback, if there is anything you would like to contact us about, or you would like to opt out of receiving future newsletters, please email info@magrathea-telecom.co.uk
Kind regards
Magrathea
Magrathea Telecommunications Ltd
T: 0345 004 0040
F: 0345 004 0041