- With competition on landline services due to open on 1 June, Sure claims it has 1,000 Islanders who have requested to move from JT
- But Sure says that JT is being ‘obstructive’ over the moves by only committing to processing 20 per day
- Sure claim that JT is ‘desperately’ trying to hang on to customers
- Do you still have a landline phone? Take part in our poll below
SURE has accused JT of trying to deter customers from changing landline provider when the service is opened up to competition – by taking too long to process the switch.
Competition on home phone services is due to open on Monday 1 June, with Sure becoming the second company to offer fixed line packages in Jersey.
Currently, JT is the only telecoms operator which provides home phone line rental.
JT has said that switching provider is not as simple as ‘flicking a switch’ and have committed to processing 20 orders a day.
They claim that Sure, which has told customers there will be only a ‘small delay’ if they switch to them, are making promises that they cannot keep.
However, Sure has said that the process can be done quicker and that they have already received requests from over 1,000 Islanders to switch provider, which would take around ten weeks to clear at the numbers JT has set.
Graham Hughes, chief executive of Sure, said that JT is trying to deter people from moving by taking so long to process switches.
‘There’s no doubt in my mind that JT are being obstructive in their plans for the introduction of competition in the landline market.
‘We have worked with the Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authorities and JT to smoothly transition to a competitive market place but JT has resorted to anti-competitive practices in order to slow the transfer of customers to Sure,’ he said.
Mr Hughes added that in Guernsey, where Sure are the only fixed line rental operators, the company has committed to switching up to 100 customers a day and ensuring they are transferred within five days of the application when the market is opened up.
He added: ‘The fact that we are able to process so many orders in Guernsey proves that JT’s claim is ridiculous and can only be seen to be anti-competitive practice by a company that is desperate to hold onto as many customers as possible, even when this means disadvantaging Jersey residents and making them pay more for their home phone lines than they need to.
‘I urge JT to act in the interests of Islanders and to work with both CICRA and Sure to provide Jersey’s phone users with the competitive market they deserve.’
However, Daragh McDermott, director of corporate affairs at JT, said that Sure have raised expectations too high.
‘We are concerned that Sure seem to have marketed the switch as being almost instant.
‘There is a huge amount of work going on at JT and Sure and both parties have to work with each other to ensure the switch.
‘We know there is an appetite for some customers to switch, but we can’t just push them through. There is a process of customer verification.
‘The danger is the level of expectation set by Sure is too high. Our concern is that Sure are making a promise that we, and they, can’t deliver on.’
Mr McDermott added: ‘In Guernsey, we have been careful with our customers to say that it won’t be instant.’
ISLANDERS are paying ‘significantly more’ for their landline telephones than their Guernsey counterparts, according to a report by the Channel Islands’ competition watchdog.
As a result of the findings, the Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authority is considering imposing new price controls on fixed-line services in Jersey.
The results of the consultation, which sought to discover what price controls may be needed on fixedline services, were published in March.
As part of the process, the prices JT currently charge for landlines were measured against other jurisdictions, including Sure in Guernsey.
The report found that JT’s retail prices were on average 33 per cent higher that comparative companies in Guernsey.
Price controls are used by regulators in markets where there is limited competition to ensure that customers are appropriately charged.
The last full price controls for Sure in Guernsey and JT in Jersey were set in 2008, initially covering a period up to 2011.
Since then, both telecoms providers have been subjected to yearly roll-overs and an interim price control. CICRA, alongside consultants Frontier Economics, launched the consultation to find out whether continued price controls are needed and, if so, to help determine what the price levels should be set at.
