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Entanet Offers Free ADSL Migration

Posted: 25th Jul, 2005 By: MarkJ

Business ISP Entanet has begun offering to migrate users, free of charge, from other providers to its own services until the end of August. The provider has also called on Ofcom to make its migration code of practice mandatory:

The company is also calling on more ISPs to sign up to Ofcoms Code of Conduct that stipulates how ISPs should proceed when customers want to move to another service provider. Vice President of Entanet, John Tsai, says that too few companies have signed up to the guidelines and that some are making it very difficult indeed for customers to move between ISPs.

The free migration offer will be applicable to any order placed before the end of August, regardless of when the migration actually takes place, although in most cases, Entanet expects to be able to perform the migration in one week. Tsai says that the offer is designed to persuade even more businesses to make the switch to Entanet. This offer coincides with the new features and flexibilities that have been recently introduced for migrations. Previously, connections had to be migrated as a like-for-like product, and then regraded to a different speed at an additional charge if that was what the customer requested, but this is no longer the case. New migrations allow any connection speed to be migrated to another ISP with a different connection speed in one smooth process. Also, connections that are currently using Datastream technology can now be migrated to ISPs that use IP Stream technology.

Most ISPs will offer to migrate users to their own service but will typically charge £25 or more to perform the task. Entanets normal charge is £20.

In order to perform the transfer, Entanet needs a migration authorisation code (MAC) from the former service provider; this enables the transfer to be made very quickly and with minimal disruption to Internet connections. There is an Ofcom Code of Conduct for Broadband Migration, which can be found at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/telecoms_ifc/codes/bbm_cop/, and this stipulates a simple three-step process which ISPs should follow to enable customers to switch between providers.

Most leading ISPs are signed up to the Code and a list of these companies can be found on the web link. But there is no obligation on ISPs to sign up and some are making it very difficult for customers to move, says Tsai. We would like to see more ISPs signed up to the Code of Conduct but many are still conspicuous by their absence. These firms are, in effect, forcing customers to pay for a service they are unhappy with for the full period of the contract.

Tsai also called on Ofcom to make signing up for the Code obligatory. We believe that all UK ISPs should be compelled to follow the code, whether they like it or not, and more should be done to make new customers aware that if they want to switch service providers at some point, that some ISPs will make it very difficult for them, says Tsai.