The OTS initiative aims to streamline the process for consumers to switch providers across different networks, hypothetically expediting the process to just one day. The original slated implementation of April 2023 is nearly one year past due now, and Ofcom is telling ISPs to hurry up. 

The message came in the form of a letter, sent to the likes of BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media, a copy of which was acquired by Bleeping Computer. In it, Ofcom’s director of telecoms consumer protection networks & communications, Cristina Luna-Esteban, highlighted the grave implications of the continued delays on consumers, competition, and the orderly implementation of the switching process. 

“Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s Group Director of Networks & Communications, has written to each of the four providers to set out our concerns, and to require them with utmost urgency to finalise a launch date that is the earliest possible implementation date for OTS,” read the letter. 

After the April 2023 deadline came and went, a revised launch date of March 14th 2024 was set. However the industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo) tasked with implementing the OTS system, acknowledged in December of last year that the new date was unattainable, and didn’t set a new one, which prompted the recent Ofcom letter. 

“Since TOTSCo’s announcement, there is still no clarity from industry on the OTS go live date, despite OTS being a regulatory requirement since April 2023,” said the letter. 

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“Ofcom is very concerned about the repeated delays and the length of time now being taken to finalise an agreed go-live date, which is preventing consumers from realising the benefits of easier and simpler switching.”

While ISPs acknowledge the complexity of implementing the OTS system and the need for thorough testing to avoid potential disruptions, Ofcom’s patience seems to be wearing thin. The regulator’s persistence may lead to punitive measures if concrete progress is not made soon from the ISPs.