UK regulator Ofcom has published proposals to make it easier to switch between Openreach, KCOM, Virgin Media and Sky, and separate plans to help save mobile switchers GBP 13 million in double payments. It said customers of fixed telephony, broadband and pay-TV services can face particular problems when switching between providers whose services are delivered using different networks. Ofcom estimates that around 884,000 switches are made between these networks every year, but there is currently no formal switching process to help people.
Instead, customers must contact their existing fixed line provider to cancel their service or services, as well as their new provider to arrange the start of the new service. Most people (81%) found switching ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ easy (81%), but when probed further, 79 percent said they encountered some kind of difficulty during the process.
This included problems cancelling their previous service, experienced by 38 percent of cross-network switchers, while 17 percent lost servic1 on average for around a week during the switch. More than one in five (22%) double-paid by an average of GBP 22 as a result of their old and new contracts overlapping.
Ofcom’s preferred option is a simple, one-stop process for switching. This would place responsibility for the coordination of the switch entirely in the hands of a customer’s new provider. The customer would only need to deal with the company they were switching to.
Ofcom is also seeking views on an alternative option, whereby customers would still have to contact their existing provider to cancel their service or services, without speaking to them on the phone, such as via webchat or an online account. Ofcom is seeking views on these options by 21 October 2016 and plans to publish its decision by summer 2017.
Turning to its proposals on double-charging when customers switch mobile provider, it said is consulting on the proposed new rules to reduce this. Under the 'gaining provider led' option, new providers would be required to inform the customer about their notice period and offer them the chance to defer their switch by up to 30 days. Under the 'automated PAC' option, providers would be required to start the clock ticking on any notice period from the date that the PAC is requested.
Ofcom is seeking views on these proposals by 16 September 2016, and will aim to announce its decision alongside reforms to the overarching mobile switching process around the end of this year.
