Following the publication of the DCMS Statement of Strategic Priorities, the Chair of the Internet Services Providers’ Association Andrew Glover commented:
"The Statement of Strategic Priorities is an important step in helping our members understand the UK Government’s priorities for the sector and how Ofcom will exercise its regulatory functions.
"ISPA welcomes the fact that the UK Government has reiterated its support for reducing the costs and barriers to deployment of FTIR. This has been a longstanding priority for ISPA members, so it is encouraging to see this commitment reflected in the report. ISPA also echoes the views outlined about cross platform switching. ISPA wants to ensure that switching processes are easy, reliable and transparent, and ISPA looks forward to further detail on how Ofcom intends to achieve this.
“Ofcom’s aim to tackle harmful practices and to improve the support available to consumers is supported by ISPA. It is understandable that Ofcom have proposed to tackle the loyalty penalty within the scope of this aim. However, it is important to ensure that the loyalty penalty is not a blanket regulation that conflates loyal with less engaged customers. It is incorrect to assume that customer loyalty is solely based on inertia, and any attempt to tackle the loyalty penalty needs to demonstrate that Ofcom has a well-rounded understanding of all consumers. ISPA therefore believes the loyalty penalty should be proportionate and targeted to those in need of help.
"Finally, ISPA would like to see more detail about the form in which the ‘Outside In’ strategy will take, especially how it will align with the Universal Service Obligation.
"ISPA is currently working with its members to explore a range of possibilities about how to respond to this report including through a formal response.”