UK telcos not ready for 'One Touch Switching'

The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom's 'One Touch Switching' initiative -- intended to make it easier for consumers to change broadband providers -- has been delayed as service providers aren't ready.

Whilst it was announced in 2021 and meant to come into force this Monday (April 3rd), One Touch Switching has now been pushed back and Ofcom has begun an enforcement program.

Under the scheme customers would only have to contact their new provider to switch -- rather like the simplified mobile phone switching scheme introduced by Ofcom in 2019. The new rules also mean providers must compensate customers if things go wrong with the switch and they are left without a service for more than one working day. Customers should also not have to pay any notice-period charges beyond the switch date.

"Industry has had plenty of warning, plenty of time and plenty of support to get this done. It's extremely disappointing and frustrating, and providers have let their customers down," says Cristina Luna-Esteban, Ofcom's director of telecoms consumer protection. "We take compliance with our rules very seriously, and have launched enforcement action to make sure companies get this up and running as quickly as possible."

Research from cloud-based network software platform Vitrifi shows that 39 percent of UK telcos don't know what one touch switching is conceptually. 80 percent admit to not being ready for the deadline and 39 percent say they are currently not doing anything to prepare for the OTS requirement.

Reasons given for the lack of preparation include the organization relying too heavily on legacy systems (28 percent), not having the skills or technical capabilities (18 percent), believing that the deadline will not be enforced (12 percent), and not having the funding or resources for it (11 percent).

Richard Jeffares, CEO of Vitrifi, says, "The UK's telco sector has been collectively trying to migrate off legacy OSS/BSS systems, but due to complexity has been challenged with the network and cost economics of the changes required. With the arrival of substantial FTTP investment in the UK, we are about to hit a period of seismic change and OTS is a significant factor, helping to introduce more innovative product optionality that will greatly improve the wider UK broadband customer experience."

Of organizations preparing for the switch, 28 percent are implementing a single technical solution to help. Meanwhile, 52 percent are implementing upwards of three services to aid in the move, increasing cost, complexity, and thus extending the lifecycle of internal systems. Despite less than 30 percent implementing a composable solution that unifies different functions, 47 percent state that a single integrated platform would assist their organization in the move to OTS.

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