Virgin Media broadband customers will be able to switch more easily from 2023

MSE_Emily

Virgin Media broadband customers, as well as those on other non-copper networks, will be able to switch more easily from April 2023 using new 'one touch switching' rules that will be brought in by telecoms regulator Ofcom...
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Virgin Media broadband customers will be able to switch more easily from 2023
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Carbrook

Many broadband customers will not wish to lose a longstanding email address, email contacts and associated emails if they change their service provider. 

Whilst there are ways to export the details of a customer's contacts and their emails to a new email address with a new service provider, this requires technical knowledge and involves a significant degree of risk. Commercial software or expertise is available to help undertake this operation - at a cost. 

However, it is not currently possible to transfer the rights to the old email address, so that the customer can keep using it. This is a similar constraint to changing service provider as was the loss of a mobile or landline telephone number in the past. 

A requirement for the existing broadband service provider to assist in the process of exporting a customer's contacts and emails to a new email service provider, together with a commitment to transfer the rights to the old email address to the customer – perhaps all for a reasonable one off charge – would allay a major customer concern at switching. 

This approach would likely require the customer to pay an annual charge to the email service provider (to maintain rights to the email address and to handle the emails) as well the monthly charge to the new broadband service provider.

Clearly, it would be advantageous for the new arrangement to be streamlined further - but the principle of the email address following the customer is critical

Carbrook

You can submit a response to the Ofcom proposals on Quick, Easy and Reliable Switching using a link on the Ofcom website (search for Statement and consultation: Quick, easy and reliable switching)
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The Ofcom proposals are set out in the Statement and Consultations  which can be downloaded from the same webpage. The proposals mention, in passing, that email and cloud storage services may be part of a bundle that the customer is considering switching to a new provider but there is no suggestion as to how such services can be effectively transferred.

neilmcl

Carbrook said:

Many broadband customers will not wish to lose a longstanding email address, email contacts and associated emails if they change their service provider. 

Whilst there are ways to export the details of a customer's contacts and their emails to a new email address with a new service provider, this requires technical knowledge and involves a significant degree of risk. Commercial software or expertise is available to help undertake this operation - at a cost. 

However, it is not currently possible to transfer the rights to the old email address, so that the customer can keep using it. This is a similar constraint to changing service provider as was the loss of a mobile or landline telephone number in the past. 

A requirement for the existing broadband service provider to assist in the process of exporting a customer's contacts and emails to a new email service provider, together with a commitment to transfer the rights to the old email address to the customer – perhaps all for a reasonable one off charge – would allay a major customer concern at switching. 

This approach would likely require the customer to pay an annual charge to the email service provider (to maintain rights to the email address and to handle the emails) as well the monthly charge to the new broadband service provider.

Clearly, it would be advantageous for the new arrangement to be streamlined further - but the principle of the email address following the customer is critical

There's an easy solution to that, don't use ISP provided email addresses as you main, contact email address. Use something like a Gmail, Outlook/Hotmail address, or better yet pay for your own domain and use email forwarding.

Tootles123

has anything been done about being able to keep the email address?..VM are the only main one that doesnt allow you to keep  email address after a set time.12-18 months i believe!.maybe even less.
most other providers allow you to keep it...i know at one point that ofcom were looking at this issue.

littleboo

Carbrook said:

Many broadband customers will not wish to lose a longstanding email address, email contacts and associated emails if they change their service provider. 

Whilst there are ways to export the details of a customer's contacts and their emails to a new email address with a new service provider, this requires technical knowledge and involves a significant degree of risk. Commercial software or expertise is available to help undertake this operation - at a cost. 

However, it is not currently possible to transfer the rights to the old email address, so that the customer can keep using it. This is a similar constraint to changing service provider as was the loss of a mobile or landline telephone number in the past. 

A requirement for the existing broadband service provider to assist in the process of exporting a customer's contacts and emails to a new email service provider, together with a commitment to transfer the rights to the old email address to the customer – perhaps all for a reasonable one off charge – would allay a major customer concern at switching. 

This approach would likely require the customer to pay an annual charge to the email service provider (to maintain rights to the email address and to handle the emails) as well the monthly charge to the new broadband service provider.

Clearly, it would be advantageous for the new arrangement to be streamlined further - but the principle of the email address following the customer is critical

You're proposing that for a one of charge, an ISP would have to continue to provide an email service for ever, despite no other revenue from that customer? What is an appropriate cost

Carbrook

Nelmel: your suggestion sets out the ideal solutions, but there are many people who have a ton of past emails and contacts that they do not want to lose. They are also likely to be concerned about having to inform everybody about their new email address. I would not support relyiance on email forwarding by your old service provider.

Tootles123: I have read through the Ofcom proposals and can find no reference to dealing with email services. If Ofcom put a responsibility on Virgin Media to actively facilitate moving the email address, the contacts and the past messages to a new email service, then the risks involved in the transfer can be reduced.

Ilttleboo: I envisage a one off charge to the old broadband/email service provider for the work involved in the transfer, an annual charge to the new email service provider (some like Google would be free) for handling and storing the emails and a monthly charge to the new broadband service provider.

neilmcl

Carbrook said:

Nelmel: your suggestion sets out the ideal solutions, but there are many people who have a ton of past emails and contacts that they do not want to lose. They are also likely to be concerned about having to inform everybody about their new email address. I would not support relyiance on email forwarding by your old service provider.

You misunderstood. What I'm suggesting is if you get your own domain you can use their (usually free) email forwarding service to whatever new ISP account you're with. For example, any emails to mydomain.com get forwarded to my current ISP email address and I just access that via Outlook on my PC.

I also have a gmail account, which I rarely use and a couple of hotmail emails that I use for purchasing anything online or signing up to anything that require an email address. Have done this since I got my first email address over 30 years ago.

Carbrook

Neilmcl: apologies, I got the wrong end of the stick (and misread your forum name). 

littleboo

Carbrook said:

Ilttleboo: I envisage a one off charge to the old broadband/email service provider for the work involved in the transfer, an annual charge to the new email service provider (some like Google would be free) for handling and storing the emails and a monthly charge to the new broadband service provider.

I suspect that the main reason that people don't want to change email address, is not the effort of moving existing emails and contacts, but the effort of updating numerous accounts which use the old email address.

onomatopoeia99

Carbrook said:

Ilttleboo: I envisage a one off charge to the old broadband/email service provider for the work involved in the transfer, an annual charge to the new email service provider (some like Google would be free) for handling and storing the emails and a monthly charge to the new broadband service provider.

Email addresses can't be "transferred" in the way you imagine.  To keep (for example) carbrook@virginmedia.com and have it "transferred" to carbrook@gmail.com, virgin media would have to have their servers receive mail to the old address in perpetuity and after receipt, forward it to the new address.  It might be a one off configuration change but it is an ongoing commitment and load on the server, for which they should be paid on an ongoing basis.