Posted on: 9th February 2023, by Magrathea
Welcome to the latest edition of the Magrathea Newsletter, combining news from Magrathea and around the industry.
POV Process
The Pre-Order Validation Process, or PoV, is designed to clarify details on end user installations before a port request is submitted, or when a porting request has been rejected.
It is important to note that the PoV process is reciprocal – if you would like us to process PoV requests on your behalf, you do need to be willing to respond to any PoV request we receive with regard to export requests of numbers assigned to your account.
Magrathea can process your PoV requests for £10.00 per order, or you can add your details to the “POV Process Consolidated Contacts Register” and process them directly.
Details of the process and instructions to be added to the register can be found in the “Porting for Business” section on the OTA2 website (http://www.offta.org.uk/best-practice-guide).
Ofcom removes fax services from the universal service obligation
Ofcom has confirmed changes to the rules on fax services, which have been updated to reflect the diminishing use of this technology.
Until now, the telephone universal service obligation (USO) – which ensures that a minimum set of phone services are available at an affordable price to people across the UK – included an obligation to support fax.
However, the technology has become increasingly outdated and the phone network that is used to deliver messages is also being upgraded. Once this upgrade is completed, fax services will no longer be guaranteed to work in the same way.
As a result, Ofcom have changed the rules so that the universal service providers – BT and KCOM (in the Hull area) – are no longer required to provide fax services under the USO.
This change does not mean that fax services will stop working immediately, but remaining users of fax will need to look for alternatives ahead of their telephone networks being upgraded.
IP Migration Updates
Everyone is by now aware that the migration to ‘all-IP’ is moving apace and that this upgrade will affect all customers including businesses and CNI organisations.
Finally we are starting to see some high level communications on the topic come out of DMCS, this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/uk-transition-from-analogue-to-digital-landlines
Magrathea is now in a position to offer FTTP and SOGEA services to clients who currently rely on us for WLR provision giving an easy migration path, but of course these services are available to all clients who wish to start offering them in the areas they are available.
If you would like to discuss the implications of the PSTN switch off and what opportunities that opens up for you as a voice provider, please do get in touch.
Gaining Party Led Switching & Porting
Now we are well into 2023 we are faced with a very close deadline to have implemented gaining party led across all switches and ports. The new general conditions come into effect on 3rd April 2023 and so far Ofcom have made no indication they will adjust the timeline, despite appeals from industry that we can’t be ready.
Much has been published about how residential providers can and must meet their obligations, The One Touch Switching Company Ltd (TOTSCo) have been engaging regularly with stakeholders and if you serve any residential users you must make sure you are engaged with the work they are doing.
They have published the process design and developers guide, and are holding a series of workshops for those of you that need to get ready (https://totsco.org.uk/news/).
For those of you serving the business market however, things are a little less clear right now. Representatives from industry have been working hard for many months now, under the name GPLB-SG, to devise a suitable process for the business focussed community. For obvious reasons the process is currently designed to utilise some of the solution being created by TOTSCo for the residential market. With many providers serving both it makes sense to keep things as aligned and simple as possible.
However, with TOTSCo not yet able to confirm a release date or that any changes required to serve the business community can be included, this group is not yet able to finalise the plan. The group are fully engaged with all stakeholders and hope to have some definitive proposals to share with the wider industry very shortly.
Meanwhile you are all urged to familiarise yourself with your obligations so you are ready when the regulations take effect.
Porting Workshops
We are planning to run some more of our half-day porting workshops during March 2023 these can be run both virtually and in person.
All clients who would like to increase their knowledge of portability in general and the Magrathea porting portal are welcome to join us. We will cover a background of the industry portability process as well as how to recognise and submit different port order types via our new porting portal. We will cover each of the order types and porting scenarios and the common rejection reasons. Our hope is that increasing knowledge in all of these areas will make the porting process run more smoothly for all parties. If you are interested in attending one of these workshops, please register your interest with porting@magrathea-telecom.co.uk.
Magrathea Team News
We are pleased to welcome Kelly West to our porting team, she will be helping to process our pre-validation requests and will be a really useful addition to the team.
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