For broadband and landline, One Touch Switch is designed so the new provider manages the switch; mobile has its own text-based switching process.
Residential broadband and landline customers can normally switch using One Touch Switch by contacting the new provider. The new provider coordinates the move and the old service should cease once the new service is working. For mobile, Ofcom’s Text to Switch process lets customers obtain the code needed to move.
Before switching, check minimum-term charges, equipment obligations, bundled services and any provider email address you rely on.
Key points
- Under One Touch Switch, the old provider should tell you about relevant charges before the switch.
- Loss of service during a switch should generally not last more than one working day.
- Your old provider should not charge a notice period after the switchover date under the OTS process.
- A switch can be cancelled within the applicable cooling-off period, but your old service may not automatically return once ceased.
Before you start
- Check minimum term and early termination charge
- Check whether TV/mobile bundles are affected
- Check what happens to provider email
- Record the requested switch date
- Keep the new provider’s order confirmation
If the switch goes wrong
Record the date the old service stopped, when the new service started and every period without service. Ask which provider owns the failure. Automatic compensation may apply in qualifying circumstances.
Managing your own switch
You can choose to cancel the old service yourself, for example to create an overlap, but then the One Touch Switch protections/process may not apply in the same way. Understand that before arranging parallel services.
In practice
- Let the new provider coordinate the standard switch unless you have a reason not to.
- Take screenshots of quoted exit fees and switch dates.
- Do not cancel the old line separately if doing so could disrupt the OTS process.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Check your existing contract status.
- Order with the new provider and save all confirmation.
- Review the old provider’s switching/charge notification.
- Record service downtime and missed appointments.
- Challenge incorrect post-switch billing promptly.
- Use ADR if the providers do not resolve the issue.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Do not confuse the 14-day cancellation period with a guarantee your old service will be reinstated.
- Do not throw away the old provider’s charge notification.
- Bundled services may need separate attention.
Evidence worth keeping
Record service interruption and missed dates.
Ofcom’s current switching guidance says loss of service should not last longer than one working day in the applicable switching process. Automatic compensation may also be relevant for qualifying delayed starts or service loss with participating providers.
Useful wording.
“My confirmed switch date was [date]. Please explain why the old service remained chargeable/new service was not active after that date, correct the overlapping or delayed charges and assess any compensation due under the applicable switching or automatic-compensation rules.”
A switch should not create an extended double-billing period.
For One Touch Switch, the old provider must not charge for a notice period after the switchover date. If both providers bill overlapping recurring service charges, reconcile the exact activation and termination dates and complain to the provider responsible for the incorrect period.
Also check bundle consequences: leaving broadband may alter a mobile discount, email service, TV package or other linked product even where the core switch itself is straightforward.
Check charges before the switch completes, not after.
A provider should give relevant information about leaving, including early termination charges where applicable. If you are out of the minimum term, challenge any fee that is described as an early termination charge. If you are still committed, ask for the calculation rather than assuming the headline figure is correct.
Broadband and landline switching is now designed around the gaining provider.
Under One Touch Switch, you normally contact the new broadband or landline provider and it manages the switch. This reduces the risk of being pressured by the old provider and is intended to coordinate the stop/start dates. Keep the switch confirmation and any information about early termination charges.
For mobile, Text to Switch remains an important route: PAC is used to keep your number and STAC to leave without porting it.
One Touch Switch should make the gaining provider the main switching contact
For broadband and landline, One Touch Switch is designed so that the new provider manages the transfer. This matters in disputes because a consumer should not normally have to coordinate two network operators manually just to make an ordinary eligible switch.
Keep the old provider’s switching information, including any early termination charge and services that will be affected.
Separate the switch order from service activation
A switch can be accepted but then fail at provisioning. Record the requested switch date, confirmed switch date, actual activation time, old-service cessation and any period without service. This prevents the providers from each pointing at the other without addressing the chronology.
Loss of service should not become an open-ended gap
Ofcom’s switching protections are designed around continuity, with loss of fixed service generally not exceeding one working day where technically feasible. If a switch leaves you disconnected longer, record each full day and check automatic-compensation eligibility as well as the underlying provisioning complaint.
Double billing: identify what each provider says it supplied
A brief overlap can sometimes reflect billing cycles rather than two live services, but extended charging by both providers needs reconciliation. Ask the losing provider for its service cessation and billing end date, and the gaining provider for its activation date. Under One Touch Switch, the old provider should not simply add a separate post-switch notice period.
Number porting can be the most important part of the switch
Where keeping a landline or mobile number matters, preserve the port request and confirmation. Do not casually cancel a service outside the designated switching process if doing so could jeopardise the port. If a number is lost, escalate quickly because restoration options can become harder with time.
Mobile switching uses a different process
Mobile customers can use Text to Switch to obtain the relevant switching code. Keep any notice of charges, device-finance balance and PAC/STAC information. A handset credit obligation can continue even though the airtime number moves, depending on the agreement.
Common switching failures
| Failure | Evidence and question |
|---|---|
| Switch delayed | Confirmed date vs actual activation; which provider owns the failed step? |
| Old service stops too early | Cessation timestamp and new-service activation timestamp. |
| Double billing | Both providers’ service and billing end/start dates. |
| Unexpected exit fee | Minimum term and charge disclosed before switch. |
| Number not ported | Port request/reference and any cancellation action. |
| Router/equipment fee | Return instruction and tracking evidence. |
What to write
Make both providers answer against the same timeline.
“The switch was confirmed for [date]. The old service ceased at [time/date] and the new service became usable at [time/date]. Please identify which switching/provisioning step failed, correct any overlapping billing and apply any compensation due for the interruption.”
Continue from here
Related telecom guidance
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
- Switching phone or broadband provider - Ofcom
- Telecom ADR and complaints - Ofcom
- Ofcom: Switching provider ↗
- Switching provider - Ofcom
- Automatic compensation - Ofcom
These are official or primary sources for this topic. Rules, scheme terms and deadlines can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal time limit or procedure.