Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the (a) process and (b) length of time taken for consumers and businesses to switch fixed telephony providers and mobile telephony providers.

The Government is committed to continuing to reduce barriers to switching, which is why the Digital Economy Act 2017, made explicit Ofcom's power to set general conditions for switching within the telecoms markets. Switching process should be led by the organisation with the most interest in making the switching process work effectively, the gaining provider. A Gaining Provider Led switching process is in place for customers that switch their fixed line telephone provider across the Openreach network, which covers the vast majority of phone lines in the UK and can take up to ten working days.