Telecommunications Adjudicator update for February 2024
An update on the principle areas of project activity being led by OTA2 in February 2024.
At the end of February 2024, the number of unbundled lines stands at 6.28 million. There are 2.26million WLR lines and the number of telephone numbers using CPS is 0.89 million. *
The following is an update on the principal areas of project activity being led by OTA2.
Passive infrastructure access
Operational performance remains good.
Whereabouts compliance: there have been several working sessions and a F2F workshop. We now have a more comprehensive set of measurement points and some clear proposals for incentivisation.
Incident & Planned Works Management: Openreach have made KCI message changes to indicate the urgency of any Joint Site Visits. Work to make changes to the interaction between CPs (Communications Providers) and Openreach are being worked through the Openreach Organisation and will be shared at the next PIAPCG.
Active workstreams currently running to improve the product and its usability for CPs are:
- Health & Safety and good working practices
- NA Evidence and quality documentation for CPs to able to instruct their field resources.
- Connecting Customers
- Multiple Network Adjustment orders for the same blockage.
- Whereabouts compliance
Ethernet
Performance remains steady.
The overall order profile remains consistent with previously reported volumes. Overall order intake is lower on an annualised basis. However, EAD has still grown with other portfolio products dropping back. Order intake is C1400.
Completion rate of c1100 orders per week has continued through January. The workstack continues to remain stable at around 20k.
Areas of interest
EAD2 development is continuing with CPs fully engaged. The newly established EAD2 technical forum has met which was well attended. Transflex phase 2 – Information sharing and embedding the use of Transflex into orders. The development is underway with industry awaiting the delivery to start their integration and process work.
Copper and fibre
Industry engagement to review FTTP metrics is continuing and will run through to late summer. The expectation is that the metric set will include some of the existing measures and also metrics currently shared by the service managers with CPs. The aim is to define a set of Key Performance Indicators which are appropriately supported, relevant and recognised by Openreach and Industry and which will effectively track the end customer experience.
Good progress has been made regarding reviewing the KCI2 Assure process and a trial of a new ‘hybrid’ approach has been commenced which it is hoped will improve the number of single visit completions.
Discussions have commenced on an SLG for FTTP cancellations following Openreach delay. This is being run under the 6-month WFTMR process. Negotiations are currently at an impasse.
All-IP Steering Group
Ofcom wrote to some CPs at the end of 2023 regarding their responsibilities towards vulnerable customers with telecare alarms and made the statement that no telecare device must be left in a non-working state post migration. In view of this CPs have stopped provision orders where a telecare alarm is present and Openreach is returning any that slip through the order process. CPs and Openreach have developed a set of exemptions regarding which provision orders can proceed, which is hoped can be implemented shortly.
The Ofcom statement regarding not leaving telecare not working has implications for the planned “On-the-Day" process due to be launched July 2024. The on-the-day development has been rescoped to allow for a full reversion of the line, which will now proceed to development.
CPs had requested that the WLT Stop-sell exemptions be allowed to continue in their current form until 25 March 2025. This has been agreed by Openreach.
Customer switching
With an announcement on the revised delivery date for OTS ‘go-live’ anticipated soon, OTA2 continue to work closely with industry through both the OTS-IPG (Industry Process Group) and bi-laterally with individual CPs. Once the date is published OTA2 and Industry will focus in on how best to achieve that date and what steps can be taken to smooth the transition to the new switching solution,
Business switching continues to expand on the stable baseline it has established, with OTA2 co-chairing the GPLB-SG (Gaining Provider Led Business – Steering Group) and actively involved in the associated Process Group efforts. The business switching community plan to publish updated documentation and news items throughout March 2024.
Number porting
OTS Porting remains the focus in this area, with a number of dedicated focus group sessions being run by OTA2. With input from CPs representing the ‘complex’ supply chain that serves many residential customers, a problem statement has been created and was utilised in assessing and developing the existing OTS Porting proposal into a more consumable proposition for the entire porting sector. Work continues through March 2024 to refine and finalise this revised solution proposal.
Service levels
Copper and fibre provision
Openreach FAD (First Available Appointment Date) performance nationally, over the 5-day period ending 5 February 2024 was as follows:
| Service Installation type | FAD First Available Appointment Date (Backstop SLA = 12 days) |
|---|---|
| Copper | 7.0 |
| FTTC (MI) | 6.7 |
| FTTC (SI) | 7.1 |
| FTTP (MI) | 7.7 |
| SOGEA (MI) | 7.9 |
| SOGEA (SI) | 6.3 |
| GFAST | 6.1 |
Notes:
- MI and SI are Managed-Install and Self-Install orders
- FTTC is Fibre to the cabinet
- FTTP is Fibre to the premises
- SOGEA is Single Order Generic Ethernet Access
- GFAST is Fibre-base Ultrafast Broadband
Copper repair
LLU and WLR ‘on time repair’ performance has seen a steady trend for LLU and WLR, achieving a 4-week rolling average of 84.9% and 80.8% respectively, by week ending 23 February 2024.
*The figures quoted exclude BT downstream connections
Signed David Halliday