One Touch Switch

2021: Start a one-click service to change your ISP

At the end of September 2021, the British state agency Ofcom, which regulates the work of television and radio companies, as well as the postal service, launched a new service that makes it easier for customers to change the Internet provider in order to get a better offer at cost or tariff.

The regulator hopes that a tool called One Touch Switch will encourage people to look for better deals after a study showed that more than two-fifths of people delay changing the Internet provider due to various hassles. Under these conditions, Ofcom considered it necessary to ensure a "switch to one click" between broadband providers.

Ofcom launched a service to change the ISP "in one click"

First, customers who want to change their network or connectivity technology, such as between Virgin Media and Openreach or other small networks such as Hyperoptic or CityFibre, will need to contact the new and old service providers at the same time for a positive result.

A study by Ofcom showed that a quarter of customers who made such a transition were faced with attempts by an existing provider to stop them. The One Touch Switch process addresses these issues, including the need to agree on end and start dates for old and new services.

Household finances are currently strained, so changing your broadband provider can help lower your bills. We are doing everything possible to make it easier for you to part with an Internet provider and take advantage of other offers, "says Lindsay Fassell, director of the Ofcom networks and communications group.

Ofcom has wide powers approved by the state. The agency said the new rules also mean providers will have to pay compensation to customers if they remain without the Internet for more than one working day during the switch. All suppliers should implement the new simplified One Touch Switch process proposed by Ofcom by April 2023.^[1]

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