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A nightmare

paulgul
Rising Star
Posts: 617
Thanks: 3
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

A nightmare

Supposing you were with 'Brand X' isp, you woke up tomorrow morning with no internet connection, after a few phone calls you established your isp had ceased trading, all staff sent home.
Could this happen, are there safegaurds in place by Ofcom to prevent this happening.
If not how would you go about tranfering to a new isp or creating a new account assuming there was no other internet access (at work or friends), can it be done by phone - assuming you happen to have the phone number of an isp you wanted to use.
Perhaps thinking about all the various companies going bust has made me morbid.  Undecided
5 REPLIES 5
Strat
Community Veteran
Posts: 31,320
Thanks: 1,609
Fixes: 565
Registered: ‎14-04-2007

Re: A nightmare

I can just imagine the scenario:
I'm sorry we can't provide broadband on the supplied number. Please get a MAC from your current provider. Cheesy
But they've gone bust. Undecided
Then you need to cancel with them Roll_eyes
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techguy
Grafter
Posts: 2,540
Registered: ‎12-09-2008

Re: A nightmare

This has happened before and one of two things usually happen.
a) Where the IP connectivity from the customer's home to the ISP is provided by a third party (where all of the equipment including the edge routers is managed by the third) the traffic will be directed to another of heir ISP customers so that the end user can sign up for an account.
b) The third party should be able to proviude a MAC to allow the customer to migrate their connection.
scootie
Grafter
Posts: 4,799
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-11-2007

Re: A nightmare

i had this thought awhile ago to.
there must be some sort of rule in the ofcom or somthing for such events happing.
but even if there is i bet its still a long and widing path to getting back on the internet.
techguy
Grafter
Posts: 2,540
Registered: ‎12-09-2008

Re: A nightmare

It has happened before, V21 and Biscit went bust and the above is what happened.
Suppose thats one of the good things about using a shared infrastructure where your traffic is directed by being tagged for its journey over the ATM backbone as opposed to physical connections.
Not sure how you'd fare if one of the unbundled ops went down, I suppose ofcom would ask BT to do something.
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
Thanks: 674
Fixes: 75
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: A nightmare

I believe OFCOM organise a special phone number for those affected to ring and authorise BT Wholesale to provide MACs. These can then be used with an ISP of choice, presumably with the same cost framework as if the transfer occurred in normal circumstances.
Without Internet access details of the special phone number should be obtainable from OFCOM if alternative sources aren't available.
David