Here you will find all the latest questions and answers. If you have further questions please email us on [email protected].
TOTSCo is not a regulator and does not set the rules for OTS. We do not provide legal or regulatory advice to industry participants on their regulatory obligations.
Ofcom is the relevant regulator and set the rules for OTS. See Ofcoms statement here –
Statement: Quick, easy and reliable switching (ofcom.org.uk)
If you are unclear whether you are covered by OTS, please contact Ofcom and/or seek your own legal advice.
The Gaining Provider Led Switching Steering Group has convened industry stakeholders and has drafted a process which can be found on their website, here.
The TOTSCo Board has initiated a programme to deliver a GPLB switching solution.
Building on the existing hub and lessons learned from OTS, TOTSCo is well-positioned to deliver an efficient GPLB switching process for the industry.
Please review Bulletin 77 to find more information on TOTSCo Business Solution.
An RCPID is a Retail Communication Provider Identifier. Your RCPID is unique and will be used for identification and communication with CPs. This key identifier is used in the switching process. You can see your RCPID at any time in your account management screen.
TOTSCo stakeholders have had the opportunity to become members since the inception of the company. Membership is free, you can join here Members pay an annual fee of £50, which confers a right to vote on the choice of Directors whose terms normally last three years, and to attend General Meetings. There is more information on membership and becoming a member on the TOTSCo website. You do not need to be a member to be a hub user and vice versa.
Membership of the company is open to users and potential users of the TOTSCo Hub. There is no membership fee. Membership confers a right to vote on the choice of Directors whose terms normally last three years, and to attend General Meetings. The Articles of Association of the company, which explain more about the powers of Directors and the rights and conditions of membership, can be examined by following this link.
If you have successfully completed our testing programme (this may vary if you are using a Managed Access Provider) and passed the Production Implementation Test (PIT), you will be admitted to the live directory.
You can check your brand name in the Account Management Portal, if you need help, watch our 1-minute how-to video! If you would like to amend your brand name, please contact the service desk.
If you would like to amend your brand name, please contact the service desk.
At first you should refresh the directory and check that the customers contract is definitely residential and check if the provider could be known by a different name.
If you still cannot find the losing provider, you can inform us by raising a support ticket. If the losing provider is known to us, we will reach out to inform them about the One Touch Switch programme. We will assist them in joining the hub and guide them through the process to ensure they can participate as quickly as possible.
If CPs fail to meet their OTS obligations, enforcement is a matter for the regulator.
Our portal how-to guide will guide you through adding contacts or you can watch our how-to video.
You can check your brand name in the Account Management Portal, if you need help, watch our 1-minute how-to video! If you would like to amend your brand name, please contact the service desk.
If you would like to amend your brand name, please contact the service desk.
TOTSCo have worked with the OTA2 to develop a list of known Access Network Providers. As part of the commercial onboarding process CPs will be asked to identify their Access Network Providers from the list and notify us if they are not mentioned.
TOTSCo will ensure that it, Tech Mahindra and the hub is compliant with applicable data protection requirements, but TOTSCo cannot advise CPs on their own compliance with data protection law. We suggest this is discussed between CPs and if a general concern is identified this is raised directly with ICO/Ofcom. Any requests to change the Industry Process would be addressed through the change process.
A Managed Access Provider (MAP), sometimes known as a Third-Party Integrator is a company a CP can partner with to manage message exchanges on their behalf. For more information and a list of MAPS we are currently working with, please visit our 'Managed Access' page.
You can amend your details and add your Managed Access Provider within the account management area of your account.
CPs who wish to use a Technical or Insourced MAP will need to onboard with us.
CPs who wish to use a 'Full Management MAP' will only onboard with your MAP.
For more information please review our 'Managed Access' page.
Here is the list of Managed Access Providers TOTSCo are engaging with. This will be evolving as we progress so please continue to review this list.
No, if you sign up to a Managed Access Provider you do not need an independent connection into the TOTSCo Hub.
No, the onboarding process is designed to be simple and the only the information required will be readily available to the applicant.
Initial onboarding is for verification purposes and to and to set up your account.
Commercial onboarding is where you will provide your brand details, account information and payment preferences and sign the user agreement. Following completion of these steps you will gain access to the hub and given your RCPID.
You do not need to onboard with us if you are going to use a Full Management MAP, you onboard with your MAP.
For more information see our onboarding page.
This is recommended as it allows for identification of the brand and for reporting and billing information.
You can email [email protected]. We are on hand to help you through the process if needed.
You can email [email protected] with the details you want to change, and what you want to change it to.
Please email the service desk, [email protected] to add users to your account. They will then be able to access the account management portal if you are off sick or on leave.
Completing commercial onboarding does not constitute any legal contract. You will have received a testing user agreement at the time of technical onboarding, and the in-life user agreement will be issued to be signed by the appropriate representative in your organisation in October.
It’s possible the link has expired. Reply to the email explaining that the link isn’t working, and you will be issued a new one.
Unfortunately, password sharing is restricted, making it impossible to fulfil this request. However, if you would like to add additional colleagues to your account please email the [email protected] and we will add them for you.
Once you have completed the first onboarding step, RCP IDs will be automatically sent to you.
Any providers responsible for working with end users, either losing or gaining, is classed as a CP and will need to register.
It’s one RCP ID per brand. For the URL, you can register one for each message type or apply one for all message types of that RCPID.
For the purposes of technical and commercial onboarding, we anticipate that the same person will complete both stages; the forms are designed to be completed in tandem and any CP that has not already onboarded will be encouraged to do that now commercial onboarding is live. The only requirement for the form is that the person filling it out has authorisation to do so and are acting with the consent and on behalf of their organisation. There is the option to add specific details for billing and technical communications as part of the commercial onboarding form, and once the account management functionality is enabled in October, account users can be added and edited.
A suggested pricing structure has been published in Bulletin no. 33 which contains the One Touch Switch charging structure and pricing for 2024.
Any CP or Managed Access provider.
Once you have onboarded and received your unique ID (RCPID) you can book your test slot. Before coming to your test slot, please review the TOTSCo Hub User Guide to ensure you’re well prepared. For OTS integration testing please contact us [email protected] and we will get it organised for you.
Not essential but preferable, because once you have completed commercial onboarding, you will have access to the online incident reporting and logging of your enquiries.
Yes. You need to complete testing sequentially. You can start testing when you are ready. If you have any concerns about whether you are ready for testing, then please use our Industry readiness checklist and do reach out to us if you need help.
It is important you make sure there is no IP listing or firewall blocking configuration at your end. Please refer to the Technical Pre-requisites on our testing page. If you are still having problems, send an email to [email protected].
The very purpose of testing is to find the things that don’t work. How we identify, triage and resolve those queries will be a key aspect of the testing plan.
Yes, you will. All test environments will be available for testing. If you haven’t started your testing, we would strongly advise to get started as soon as possible.
If you have read through the trials entry criteria and feel you are positioned to take part in industry trials, please contact us at [email protected].
We are presently evaluating the complete test capability. Our aim is to develop the test harness promptly, initially we have limited functionality. However, we will continue to enhance its capabilities as we make progress. We share more information as soon as it is available.
No. The Testing User Agreement is sufficient.
An erroneous transfer occurs when a customer’s broadband service is switched to a new provider by mistake, either due to incorrect details being provided or a failure in the validation process.
No, TOTSCo does not regulate user conduct. Our role is to provide a hub to send and receive switching messages to each other. We cannot see the content of these messages and do not oversee how individual users handle their switching processes or customer interactions.
No, TOTSCo does not have a role in investigating or resolving erroneous transfers. If you believe you have been switched in error, you should contact your current or new provider as soon as possible to rectify the issue.
If you have concerns about how a provider has handled a switch, including erroneous transfers, you may wish to raise your concerns with the industry regulator, Ofcom.