A major change to the broadband industry affecting all network operators and service providers is coming fast and INCA Members need to take action to be ready in time. INCA has been working with Ofcom, OTA and other industry organisations on behalf of the independent sector. Now is your chance to get involved and get your views represented.
Based on the new EU Electronic Communications Code – EECC – Ofcom is mandating a new method for consumers to be able to switch their broadband connection.
DCMS has announced that the provisions of the EECC will be transposed into UK law by 21 December 2020 and a consultation on this closed in September. The statutory instrument was laid before Parliament on 2 Dec 20 and is here (thanks, Aidan).
That led Ofcom to ask the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator – OTA2 – to consult with industry and submit recommendations. This work has now been done and Ofcom are reviewing it in order to make the decison between Option X and Option Y. After further work at Ofcom's request, and given the current situation, the date by which GPL must be in operation has been pushed back to Dec 22.
Following that further work, the statement on GPL was expected to be before the end of 2020 to be followed by a further short consultation. Ofcom's proposed Plan of Work for 2020/21 (see here) has given Q1/Q2 21 as the date for the final GPL statement following that consultation. It is likely that, once the decision is made, the task of implementation, funding and governance will be handed to the industry so we need to be engaged with this process.
The SWSIG is now working on the Wholesale Aggregator platform which will need to be aligned with the GPL Switching Hub for easy interoperability and timing implementation. The work to ensure that independent networks can be consumed by scale retailers is vital - if they can't use services available from INCA Members, other networks will be used.
This page is an index to our work on behalf of INCA Members. We trust it will be a useful resource in this area. There is a great deal going on with some very short timescales. Don't get left behind.
- 1st 169 All IP Exchanges / FTTP Upgrade
- Ofcom statement on EECC implementation & consultation 27 Oct 20
- OTA2 X & Y Hub Dependencies and Reliability Assessment 6 Oct 20
- Scale Retailer Product set and Openreach portfolio
- Switching and Wholesale Survey June 20 - results on GPL and Common Wholesale Platform
- Option Y Group response 4 Aug 20 to 17 Jul Ofcom asks.
- Ofcom asks for Option X & Y to respond by 17 July 20
- Ofcom asks for Option X & Y to respond by 8 June 20
- Supplier Responses to Topline Requirements v1
- SWSIG Progress Update 9 Apr 20
- SWSIG Subgroups Update 8 Apr 20
- Ofcom Options X & Y impact on Wholesale
- GPL Switching – Update Feb 20
- GPL Switching - OTA2 ECWG Workstream, Ofcom consultation
- Report on INCA's Switching & Wholesale SIG (SWSIG) Tues 14 Jan 20
- New Cross-platform Switching Process will affect all Network Operators – backgrounder – Nov 19
- New Cross-platform, Gaining Provider-led Switching to be implemented in 2020 - initial – Nov 19
- GPL Switching Option Poll
- Registration form for Switching & Wholesale Special Interest Group
SWSIG Meetings and Workshops
- 4 Feb 21
- 7 Jan 21
- 26 Nov 20
- 22 Oct 20
- 5 Aug 20
- 9 Jul 20
- 11 Jun 20
- 21 May 20
- 30 Apr 20
- 9 Apr 20
- 26 Feb 20
- 14 Jan 20
- 25 Nov 19
If you do not have a full-time Public Affairs, Policy and Regulatory function in your organisation, you will find the new INCA Policy and Regulatory Service, designed for the interests and needs of our independent sector, well worth while to protect and promote your interests at this level.
If you are not already an INCA Member and are an organisation working in or supplying the Independent sector, why not consider the wide range of Member Benefits in addition to the Policy, Events, Quality Mark workstreams. More details here.