OFCOM is doing its job!

Latest OFCOM Report - Why You should'nt hesitate to change Your Broadband Supplier.

As my readers will know, I am no fan of Regulatory Bodies, but where they are doing a decent job, I am more than happy to say so. Reproduced below is the latest report from OFCOM (dated 30th November 2021) in its entirety.

Comment

This OFCOM report centres on residential rather than business customers, but if you are “out of Contract” – i.e. free to move suppliers without penalty – the typical savings are about £5 per month.
This is surely worth having especially since OFCOM have simplified the switching process.
Apart from the cost saving, the benefits may well include a faster Broadband Service

So how do you go about changing providers?

If you don’t want the hassle of contacting individual suppliers, I recommend the services of a suitable UK Broadband Broker – here is a short Video about Broadband Brokers.

Or just complete a FREE Broadband Report

OFCOM Publication 30th November 2021

1.3 million broadband users secure better deals since introduction of prompts to shop around
Overpayment among mobile customers has dropped by £100m, after operators committed to cut prices when initial contracts end
Vulnerable broadband customers who are out of contract have greater protection from higher prices

More broadband and mobile customers are shopping around and signing up to better deals – and saving themselves millions of pounds – following Ofcom rule changes.

Last year, around two thirds (62%) of broadband customers who were nearing the end of their contract either signed up to a new deal with their current provider, or switched to a new one when their existing deal ended. This is up from 47% of customers in this position in 2019.

In addition, the number of broadband customers who are out of contract fell from 8.7 million (40%) in 2019 to 7.4 million (35%) in 2020. On average, these customers pay around £5.10 per month more than they need to.

End-of-contract alerts prompt customer action

Last year, new Ofcom rules came into force that require phone, broadband and pay-TV providers to warn customers when their current contract is ending, and what they could save by signing up to a new deal.^[2] We also secured commitments from major telecoms firms to reduce the bills of many out-of-contract customers.

On average, out-of-contract broadband customers pay

£5.10

more than they need to each month

There is evidence that indicates that these timely prompts from providers are working. In our research, two thirds of customers who were sent an end-of-contract notice recalled receiving one. Of those, 90% found it helpful and a fifth reported that they were prompted into action they would not have otherwise taken.

Broadband customers better off

The number of broadband customers who were out-of-contract in 2020 fell by around 1.3 million from the previous year. This reduction was largely driven by people securing a new contract with their existing provider, rather than switching. The average prices paid by broadband customers also fell over the same period, from £39 in 2019 to £38.10 in 2020, while average speeds continued to increase.

Our analysis also shows that some providers have a greater proportion of out-of-contract customers than others. More than half of Virgin Media’s customers (52%) remained out of contract in 2020 – although less than in 2019 (61%) – while EE had the lowest proportion at 21% (down from 24% in 2019). Plusnet saw the biggest decrease in the proportion of out-of-contract customers year on year – from 42% to 31%.

Mobile customers save £100m

Mobile customers on bundled contracts, who pay for their handset and airtime together, are particularly likely to sign up to a new deal when their existing one expires, with just 11% of these customers out of contract. And our research suggests customer engagement in the market is increasing.

Since the commitments we secured came into effect, more than three quarters (76%) of mobile customers on bundled tariffs who were nearing the end of their contract took action to shop around and secure a new deal – up from 70% in 2019.

Also, the amount that bundled out-of-contract mobile customers overpay, relative to customers on like-for-like SIM-only deals, has more than halved – from £182m in 2018 to £83m in 2020.

Vulnerable customers protected

Vulnerable broadband customers who pass the end date of their initial deal now also have greater protection from higher prices, due to the commitments we secured from providers.

On average, these customers pay around £2.30 per month more than their provider’s average price for their service, a significant reduction from £4.40 in 2019.

Prompts from providers are turning into pounds in people’s pockets. It’s great to see more people shopping around and saving money since we took action.
But millions are still potentially paying more than they need to. We’ve made it easier to grab a better deal, so it’s worth taking a few minutes to check what’s out there.
Cristina Luna-Esteban, Ofcom’s Director of Telecoms Consumer Protection

Are you in or out of contract?

Out-of-contract customers don’t have to wait to hear from providers before securing a better deal. Ofcom has a simple, three-step journey to help people find the best offers on the market.

Notes to editors

Figures for broadband and mobile customers nearing the end of their contract who either signed up to a new deal with their current provider, or switched to a new one are from September 2020 and September 2019.
End-of-contract notifications came into force on 15 February 2020. They can be sent by text, email or letter – between 10 and 40 days before a contract comes to an end – and must include:
1. when your contract is up;
2. what you’ve been paying until now, and what you’ll pay when your contract is up;
3. any notice period for leaving your provider; and
4. your provider’s best deals, including any prices only available to new customers.
Ofcom conducted research among a sample of customers of five mobile and three broadband providers, who had been sent an ECN for a service contract ending in September 2020.
Average broadband prices are based on customers from six providers from whom we obtained data (BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media).

OFCOM is doing its job! Read More »

UK Broadband and BT’s SoGGY

Comment on Broadband in Britain and BT's SoGGY

At Power Comms, we are building some new customer sites to promote UK Broadband Broker Services, as a result of which I needed to dive back into this market place and update myself with all the changes to the Broadband services and products.

As a small business owner for the last 40 years or so, I have regarded IT Departments and Marketing Departments with deep suspicion. Whilst they may be a necessary evil in large organisations, it seems to me that the inhabitants of these departments are working to protect their jobs by producing a large amount of b***shit designed to cloak their activities and promote their indispensabiliy to their bosses. One of the ways this is done is to come up with new and impressive names for simple functions or new services. The Telecoms industry is a case in point.

And BT (British Telecom – the UK’s largest PSTN) does not disappoint. With the advent of the heavily promoted “Switch Off”, their replacement Broadband Service for ADSL and ISDN services is called SoGEA – which apparently stands for “Single Order Generic Ethernet Access”. Who the f*** came up with that one? What idiot in BT’s Marketing Department seriously thinks that the vast majority of BT customers (home-owners and small businesses) will be impressed? Which customer will give a s**t about “Single Order“? What the f*** does “Generic” mean in this context? Why use the technical term “Ethernet“?

Moving on to IT departments, the Broadband industry has spawned a whole new Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations. Some of the new stuff is fair enough – FTTC, FTTP, FTTH, FTTDP – where the FTT stands for Fibre To The …but do we really need GPON, EoFTTC, GEA etc. etc.?

And while on the subject of ridiculous names and abbreviatons, who the hell came up with the names “Openreach” and LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) to describe the sharing of BT’s UK Network, and The Channel to describe the UK Telecom Reseller Business?

Opportunities?
So what opportunites are there for UK telecoms resellers in the new Broadband environment, where the news is all about faster and faster fixed broadband speeds, Fibre Roll Out (another dubious name) and 5G Networks?

OFCOM’s latest initiative will be a big help.

Fixed Line Broadband.
The market of potential customers in the UK for Fixed Line Broadband is broadly divided into two sectors: the large business (for example Corporations and Government Departments with 100s of employees and a giant appetite for Broadband) and secondly the end-consumer – Homeowner and Small Business.

The first sector – big business – is pretty much wrapped up by BT or Openreach. There are signs of some major city-based competiton for the provision of ultra fast broadband – for example Community Fibre in London, who recently raised £400 million to further facilitate their own independent fibre network. However, larger companies usually have their own IT Departments who have something to prove, and will be a hard nut to crack for the average Reseller.

The second sector – Homeowners and small business – is an easier target, even though many of those potential customers have existing contracts with the Incumbent (another dreadful word, which means BT) and the main competition wil be from SoGEA. One major difficulty for resellers will be in overcoming the normal antipathy of customers to changing suppliers, even though it would be to their clear advantage to do so. Resellers will be helped by the BT Switch Off which will provide a unique selling opportunity, and may be able to persuade some of these customers to consider changing to Wireless Broadband but I expect fierce competition from the BT salesforce, who will be tasked with doing whatever it takes to retain customers reaching the end of their contract periods.

What About Making and Receiving Phonecalls?
In all the excitement generated by “fibre optic rollout” and the “switch off” and “5G” it is often possible to overlook the fact that the majority of customers in the UK are not that interested in superfast broadband: most of them just need to know that they can continue to make and receive phonecalls and that their internet service will be at least as good if not better. So keeping their phone number is almost always important, together will the ability to make and receive local UK calls (for free if possible). They need to understand if a new handset or router is required, and if they have to pay for it, and how the new VOIP based services will affect them.

Fixed Wireless Broadband
Although mostly controlled by the “Big Four” (Vodafone, O2 EE and Three), fixed wireless broadband offers good opportunities for Resellers in all customer sectors – including Big Business.

For data hungry companies, a line of sight 5G service to a nearby mast will offer seriously fast Broadband, often matching Leased Line and other FTTP services. Obviously, location and mast proximity will be key factors.

For small businesses and Home Owners, most locations will have 4G coverage, and the broadband speeds available via a suitable fixed wireless 4G or 5G router will often be more than sufficient. And a final mention of prepaid or PayAsYouGo (PAYG) options, which are available for the purchase of Data in some Mobile Networks – thus avoiding the need for a Contract.

Mobile Broadband – Retail
By UK Mobile Broadband, I mean access to the Internet via a 3G or 4G connection using a SIMcard provided by the Network Operator. Normally, the SIM provided allows both Voice and Data, so that voice calls are made and received over the Network Operator’s routing which gives them control of pricing. There is normally a 12 month (or longer) contract in place which may also include the cost of a locked smartphone – giving the Network Operators another source of income.

The opportunity here is that many data only SIM products are available from the same Networks, which can be used to provide the 3G or 4G Broadband via an unlocked smartphone or a dongle or MiFi (Wireless Router) on many wireless devices such as a Tablet or a Laptop. The data SIM can also be used with an unlocked wireless router.

VOIP services can be used to make and receive phonecalls to those devices independently of the Mobile Networks. And these SIM packages can be PAYG – so no contract required.

Satellite Broadand
Although Satellite Broadband has been thought of as a niche product, only suitable for consumers in rural areas – i.e. outside traditional cable network coverage or the range of wireless masts – the Broadband speeds and reliability of Satellite Broadband have markedly increased in the last 10 years.
Providing the installation of a satellite dish prevents no obstacle (planning permission and/or cost) there are good reasons for considering Satellite Broadband, which include redundancy (as a back up service) and the international coverage available. So there are opportunities here for resellers.

Final Thoughts?
A Broadband reseller, will need to be familiar with all the Broadband options available and to be prepared to fight to win new customers by offering them something special. Only one thing springs to mind: first class personal service (one on one is always the best)

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