Over recent years switching broadband provider has been something of a nightmare for many customers, but falling complaints suggest the problem is easing

In the past broadband customers have experienced a number of problems when trying to switch broadband from one provider to another. In addition to spending time trying to talk customers out of switching, some broadband providers were also using stalling tactics by making it as difficult as possible for customers to get the necessary Migration Authorisation Code (MAC) to enable them to switch to another provider.

Last year officials from Ofcom, the communications regulator, acknowledge that this was a problem, and introduced more stringent regulations with regards to this issue including General Condition 22 (GC22), which means that broadband providers had only five days within which to provide consumers with the necessary MAC to switch. One official from Ofcom stated: ‘We acted in February to make service providers hand over Macs to consumers who wanted to switch.’

It now looks as though the action that was taken by Ofcom with regards to these migration codes has started to have a positive effect, as the number of complaints registered relating to these codes has fallen. According to recent figures there were eight hundred and twenty five MAC related complaints received by Ofcom as reported in March 2007. However, earlier this year Ofcom reported that the complaints had fallen significantly to five hundred and seventeen MAC related complaints.

One Ofcom official stated: “Ensuring that consumers are able to switch their broadband supplier quickly, easily and with minimal service disruption remains a priority for Ofcom. We have therefore decided to extend the GC22 enforcement programme for a further six months. Industry players should now expect that Ofcom may proceed directly to individual notifications of contravention without any further warnings where our investigation of an ISP demonstrates sufficient evidence of contravention of GC22.”