Telecommunications Adjudicator update for October 2024

At the end of October 2024, the number of unbundled lines stands at 5.40 million. There are 1.76 million WLR lines and the number of telephone numbers using CPS is 0.64 million.  *

The following is an update on the principal areas of project activity being led by OTA2.

Passive Infrastructure Access

Operational performance remains good.

Whereabouts compliance: Compliance continues to be monitored and is generally moving in the right direction. Further updates will be given to CPs at the PCG. The working group met this month and agreed a slight change to the smaller NoI measure to take account of rapid deployment of network often undertaken under restricted permit notifications.

Incident & Planned Works Management: This work remains ongoing. OTA2 to set up a meeting before the end of the year to review with CPs how the new Openreach notification changes will work, and what they will need to do to respond.

Areas of interest:

• Health & Safety and good working practices
• NA Evidence and quality documentation for CPs to able to instruct their field resources.
• Connecting Customers
• Whereabouts compliance

Ethernet

Performance is good.

The order profile remains in line with expectation. The workstack has dropped below 20kbut remains a focus. Planning performance for KCI2 remains close to the target of 70% at 66% If the quick win deliveries are added the outcome is 73%.

Exchange Access Problems: Work continues to get the Exchange access challenges resolved, a multi-product Teams Call has been set for 25 November 2024 to review the new documentation and processes.

The arrangements for emergency access for CPs and for the reporting of problems with Access Systems is now documented on the Access Locate documents and CPs are advised to review them.

Areas of interest:

EAD2: Ongoing workstream developing the product proposals. Outline pricing and commercials have been shared with CPs and bilateral meetings are being held to review and receive feedback.

Exchange Exit: Openreach have shared inventories for the affected 105 exchanges and planning for deep dive reviews on Baynard and Staines exchanges as a collaborative exercise to aid CP Planning. There have also been Industry Working Groups covering ‘Complex & CNI’ and EAD & Optical migrations.

Copper and Fibre

Industry engagement to review FTTP metrics is continuing and will now run through Autumn. The aim is to define a set of Key Performance Indicators which are appropriately supported, relevant and recognised by Openreach and Industry and which will effectively track the end customer experience. A draft set of measures has been developed collaboratively between Openreach and Industry. A review during September highlighted areas where the two sides are a distance apart. Both sides are reflecting on each other’s feedback and discussions will continue during November.

Discussions have ended on an SLG for FTTP cancellations without agreement. OTA2 submitted its report for Ofcom to consider and a response to OTA2 and industry is anticipated shortly.  

All-IP Steering Group

The Prove Telecare low volume trial completed mid-October. This tested the systems capability, with later testing of the full reversion capability planned as part of the Pilot in FY Q4

Openreach have requested CPs consider any future telecare support requirements beyond the existing Prove Telecare SVR to ensure this can be addressed in the next financial year. Industry has responded that development will be required but that this has yet to be defined.

Openreach is continuing to develop its plans to address WLR withdrawal through to the previous end date of December 2025 and for the period January 2026 to January 2027, which is outside of the original commitments provided to Ofcom. An outline of the approach envisaged by Openreach to support withdrawal in the period 2025 and 2026 has been shared with industry.  

Customer Switching

As reported in September, OTS (One Touch Switching) went live on 12 September 2024, with CPs now using the OTS process for all residential switching journeys as of that date. Another significant milestone was passed on 24 October 2024, with the decommissioning of NoT+ across the networks and platforms that had been running that process. Decommissioning allowed for reduced lead times, after the removal of the mandatory 10 working days enforced by the NoT+ process and the removal of ‘Cancel Other’ in line with Ofcom’s expectations.  TOTSCo report continuing increases in the volumes of OTS messages being processed by the Hub, now regularly exceeding 60,000/day, alongside a steady upward trend in active switches at averaging 5000/day and completed trending at ~4000/day.  

TOTSCo now report that there are 280 active brands for OTS and that in the same week that NoT+ was decommissioned the number of completed OTS switches exceeded 100,000.

OTA2 are continuing their work with CPs as part of an Ofcom requested investigation into ‘Matching’ performance and have compiled an initial report for Ofcom on OTA2 findings. Part of the engagement with CPs includes direct feedback on observations regarding adoption of Best Practice and Process. Opportunities that can be fed back into the OTS community that will assist with improvements in Matching (both as a Gaining and Losing party) are being compiled.

OTA2 remain active as co-chairs of both the OTS-IPG (Industry Process Group) and the OTS Operational Forum. The OTS-IPG has recently issued a number of Bulletins for Industry, confirming or clarifying points raised with them as a result of experiences with OTS. The OTS Operational forum consists of a cross-section of CPs and MAP, who focus on the ‘in-life’ challenges of running the OTS process at a level above individual orders, identifying trends or patterns that require wider engagement by Industry to resolve.

OTA2 have up-issued the Telecare Best Practice guide for OTS and this is planned to be published shortly via both the OTA2 and TOTSCo websites .

The GPLB-SG (Gaining Provider Led Business - Steering Group, which is OTA2 co-chaired) continue to make good progress with the next phase of their process development, focusing on Best Practice Guides and technical details of the proposed message specification. A short introduction to GPL Business Switching has been produced as a ‘Webinar’ and can be found on the public facing website here :  Gaining Provider Led Business Switching public - FCS alongside further documents that include the proposed message set and API. The GPLB-SG now include both TOTSCo and MAPs in their sessions and continue to build the relationships required to deliver the process into live.

Number Porting

October’s NPPESG (Number Porting Process & Commercial Group – also OTA2 chaired), discussed the need for improved reporting against Number Portability performance, alongside suggested improvements in the granularity of codes used when a Port Request was Cancelled by the Voice Service Provider.

Service Levels

Copper and Fibre provision

Openreach FAD (First Available Appointment Date) performance nationally, over the 5-day period ending 30 October 2024 was as follows:

Notes:

1. MI and SI are Managed-Install and Self-Install orders
2. FTTC is Fibre to the cabinet
3. FTTP is Fibre to the premises
4. SOGEA is Single Order Generic Ethernet Access
5. GFAST is Fibre-base Ultrafast Broadband

Copper repair

  LLU and WLR ‘on time repair’ performance has seen a generally steady trend for LLU and WLR, achieving a 4-week rolling average of 84.8% and 82.9% respectively, by week ending 25 October 2024 .

*The figures quoted exclude BT downstream connections