Channel Islands Customers on Airtel Vodafone Start Migration to Sure

Mobile and broadband operator Sure, which serves the English Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, has confirmed that customers of the Airtel Vodafone service have started to be migrated on to their network. The move follows last year’s £48m deal to build a new “world-class” 5G mobile broadband network across the islands as part of Sure’s acquisition of the operator.

Readers may recall that the original deal (here) only became possible after the States of Guernsey voted to temporarily suspend local competition law in order to allow the merger (here). The agreement also required Sure to make several legally binding commitments to help protect local competition, which among other things included some pricing protection measures and a requirement to launch a new virtual mobile operator (mvno) with the Channel Island Co-Op (Coop Mobile).

The big news this week (credits to BBC News) is that Airtel Vodafone’s customers yesterday began their migration over to Sure’s platform, which is occurring in phases and due to run for the next few days. “From Sunday 21 September to Wednesday 24 September, all Airtel accounts will be moved to Sure systems. There’s nothing you need to do. Your mobile, broadband, and landline will continue to work as normal. If you have any trouble connecting to the Airtel network during this time, please restart your phone,” said a statement on Sure’s website.

Sure has pledged that customers impacted by this change will continue to receive the same network, service and support as before. The main change for now is that they’ll begin to receive their monthly bills from Sure instead of Airtel. Customers will also be able to manage their accounts via Sure’s online portal.