Posted on: 17th February 2023, by Magrathea
It is rapidly approaching a year since we first wrote about changes to switching and porting that resulted from the European Electronics Communications Code (EECC) and even then we were very aware of the enormity of the challenges ahead ( https://www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk/switching-and-porting-march-2022/).
Not only is the industry tackling high levels of fraud and cyber-attacks alongside the knock-on effects of economic uncertainty; we are also managing a major change project in the migration to an all IP network, introducing more stringent network security measures as a result of the TSRs and all whilst dealing with the rewarding but often somewhat challenging task of running our respective businesses!
With so much change we thought it worth revisiting this topic as a reminder of each of our regulatory obligations, many of which came into force last year and the final batch coming in April this year.
Recent correspondence from Ofcom confirms that the April regulations will apply despite industry confirming that some areas are impossible to comply with in time. Ofcom have made it clear that they expect all providers to do as much as they can and to demonstrate they are taking steps to meet the obligations as soon as possible. They will not confirm how or when they will take enforcement action.
Magrathea clients can download a copy of our ‘Guidance for Voice Providers’ which covers all this in more detail, but here are the headlines to be aware of…
Gaining Party Led Switching – delays certain
The regulations apply to all switching activity, business and residential, for IAS* and NBICS* services whether fixed or mobile. Switching is defined as ‘changing provider’.
However, the use of the new solution – One Touch Switching (OTS) – is only mandatory for residential switching of IAS or NBICS services that are provided at a fixed location.
TOTSCo, the organisation tasked to establish the OTS solution, have confirmed that it will not be ready by April. In fact it’s looking like it won’t be ready for testing until around August 2023. However, this slippage is not to be used as an excuse to ignore the problem until later in the year – Ofcom have made it clear they expect all providers and retailers to be getting prepared to start using the hub as soon as it’s ready. Specifications have been published and providers can be getting their data ready ahead of time to minimise delays.
Those of you who only deal with business users need to stay aware of this too as the current plan is for the business solution to rely on the OTS hub – still in early stages of planning but if this goes ahead it means that an industry standard business switching process will be delayed too. But again, the expectation is that all potential hub users will take steps to be prepared and ready for when the hub is available.
Please remember that it is the responsibility of the party dealing with the end user to comply – please make sure everyone in your value chain is up to speed with their obligations!
Switching rules – delaying not an option
Whilst it is now clear the OTS hub will not be ready in time, the remaining regulations which are designed to remove barriers for switching and porting will need to be complied with from 3rd April 2023. The rules include:
- Continuity of service must be provided during migration;
- Time and date of switch must be agreed and adhered to;
- Information about the switch must be easily available;
- Consent must be given and recorded;
- Compensation must be made available in the event of problems;
- Number porting must be available to those that request it;
- Number portability must be supported for a minimum of one month after the date the service is terminated by the customer, unless expressly agreed otherwise on termination of service;
- No direct charges may be applied to the customer for number portability;
- Splitting of number blocks for portability must be allowed where technically possible;
- The process must be gaining provider led.
EECC regulations – already in place – from June 2022
Whilst everyone should have already dealt with these by now we thought a reminder might be useful. There were a few changes to GC1 and GC5 that came into effect in June 2022, specifically, this includes:
- Providing contract information and summary;
- Give at least one months’ notice of contract changes;
- Give a right to exit, at no cost, on even of contract modification;
- Giving users access to emergency video relay with sign language.
EECC regulations – already in place – from December 2021
And looking at bit further back, a number of contract changes were introduced in December 2021 which should be fully embedded by now. These include:
- Contract conditions must not act as a disincentive to switch;
- Commitment periods may not be longer than 24 months, unless a waiver is obtained;
- End of contract notifications and annual best tariff notifications are to be extended to bundled services;
- Mobile devices may not be locked to a particular network.
To read our previous article visit https://www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk/switching-and-porting-march-2022/) and for an earlier introduction look here https://www.magrathea-telecom.co.uk/switching-and-porting-can-they-be-quick-and-easy/
* IAS is defined as ‘Internet Access Services’ and means a service made available to the public which provides access to the internet.
*NBICS is defined as ‘Number based interpersonal communication services’ and means an ICS made available to the public which uses a publicly assigned numbering resource or enables communication with numbers in a national or international numbering plan.