TOTSCo Prep Cheaper UK Biz Broadband ISP Switching and Improved Monitoring
The One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which is the industry-led company responsible for helping to deliver Ofcom’s solution for easier and quicker UK switching between fixed broadband and phone providers on different networks (One Touch Switching), has provided an update on their plans for 2026 (i.e. cheaper business switching and more performance data).
The OTS system, which went live on 12th September 2024, remains a Gaining Provider Led (GPL) process, where the customer contacts their new (“gaining“) ISP to start and manage the process on their behalf. But despite a bit of a bumpy start and some ongoing issues, which we won’t recap today, the new system is already helping around 1.8 million customers to switch provider every 12-months (here).
The latest update reveals that TOTSCo are now almost ready to extend beyond Consumer Switching and support Business Switching between ISPs too, which was previously said to be due for launch during “early 2026” (here). As part of that work they’ve now “revised” their price-list, “making it more affordable for smaller providers whether accessing the hub directly or through a Managed Access Provider (MAP) and passing on the benefits of cost reduction initiatives“.
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The company said they would also “shortly formalise the Business Switching API” from its current beta version to version 2, which introduces no functional changes but is said to provide a “clearer, consolidated baseline as we continue to develop the service“.
Finally, TOTSCo has promised to deliver “clearer insight, stronger monitoring and practical improvements” to their central messaging Hub, which includes a plan to “expand the performance data we share, provide greater visibility of trends and variations, and develop more tailored reporting to support all providers“. But it’s unclear whether consumers will also be given access to the extra data via the public OTS stats page.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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I would like to see some strong protections against unwanted migrations on business services, perhaps requiring multiple people to approve, a check that email confirmations are being sent to legitimate domains for that company, and a way to lock the service in the same way you can lock domain transfers. It feels too fragile to one touch switch business services that could have static IPs, external services relying on connections from a known source, VPNs etc.
Mark:
Have you considered NOT capitalising every word in the headlines?
It would make them a lot more readable.