New Broadband Migration Regulations
From the 14th February 2007 a new set of regulations governing the issue of MACs are being enforced by Ofcom. MACs (Migration Authorisation Code) are used by DSL Broadband providers to facilitate moving from one supplier to another. Prior to this date the MAC process was a voluntary code which, with the increasing number of products and suppliers occupying the broadband market, was beginning to break down.
As the broadband market matures more and more people are reaching the end of their initial contracts or spotting deals that are more suitable for their usage. This increased number of migrations began to throw up weaknesses in the current system, with people ending up in a situation where they were stuck with there current provider or even worse finding themselves without a broadband connection at all for a period of weeks or months. It could also result in people not moving to a more suitable provider for fear of disruption to service.
This new set of rules (known as General Condition 22: Service Migrations) is intended to reduce the complexity of moving and hopefully the number of people finding themselves in the above situations. Since it is an Ofcom regulation rather than a voluntary code, Ofcom will have the power to investigate alleged breaches and take action against offenders.
The main point of General Condition 22 are as follows:-
- For all migrations to which it applies broadband providers must comply with the MAC process.
- MACs must be provided upon request. They may not be charged for or withheld where a customer owes them money.
- When a provider receives a MAC from an inbound customer they must accept it. However, they can still refuse that customer service for separate reasons (eg credit risk).
- Wholesale providers will also be required to issue their customers (broadband providers and resellers) with MACs. This will stop the situation occurring where a provider is unable to issue a customer with a MAC since they themselves are unable to obtain them from their wholesaler.
- Where the MAC process does not apply (eg home moves) providers are still required to give a high level of service.
The "Broadband migrations: enabling customer choice" statement can be downloaded from the Ofcom web site.
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