<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/may/26/ofcom-bans-three-year-contracts">http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/may/26/ofcom-bans-three-year-contracts</a></span><br><br>----- Begin Quote ----- <br><br>Three-year broadband and phone contracts have been banned by the<br>communications regulator Ofcom, with providers now only able to offer<br>maximum contracts of two years. They must also make 12-month contracts<br>available under the new regulations which bring the UK in line with EU<br>telecoms law.<br><br>The regulations also require mobile providers to transfer customers'<br>mobile phone numbers to a new provider within one working day.<br>Providers must now pay "reasonable compensation" to customers should<br>they not do so, or if there is an abuse of the
process. Ofcom is<br>allowing providers to design their own compensation schemes, but will<br>review them after 12 months to make sure they are adequate.<br><br>In addition, for those switching landlines steps have been introduced<br>to prevent "slamming", where a customer is switched to another<br>provider without their permission or knowledge.<br><br>Ofcom has also introduced an emergency SMS scheme which allows<br>registered users to text the details of emergencies to the emergency<br>services instead of calling 999. The scheme, which has been running on<br>a voluntary basis since 2009, already has around 14,500 users and is<br>predominantly used by hearing and speech-impaired people who find it<br>difficult to use the phone.<br><br>----- End Quote ----- <br></div>
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