12 Sep 2024
One Touch Switch live across the whole UK
~14 days
Typical end-to-end time from sign-up to go-live
£120-£300
Average annual saving on a like-for-like switch
1 day
Maximum window for the losing provider to reply
Why switch broadband at all?
Most households end up paying more than they need to for broadband simply by staying put. New-customer pricing has fallen sharply since 2023 as the Full Fibre rollout has reached 75% of UK homes, but providers automatically roll legacy customers onto undiscounted standard tariffs at the end of the minimum term. A two-year-old Sky Broadband Superfast deal that started at £25 a month is now typically billing at £38 to £42. Switching to a new equivalent deal usually drops the bill back down to £22 to £27 a month.
The three reasons that genuinely justify a switch are price (a cheaper like-for-like deal), speed (an upgrade to Full Fibre on a copper line) or reliability (a struggling line that the current provider cannot or will not fix). Anything else, including marginal feature differences or short-term cashback offers, is usually not worth the disruption.
How One Touch Switch actually works
Ofcom\'s One Touch Switch (OTS) process went live on 12 September 2024 after multiple delays through 2023 and 2024. The old rules required a "notice of transfer" between two Openreach providers, while Virgin Media customers had to manually cancel before they could switch. OTS replaces both with a single automated process that works across every regulated UK home broadband network: Openreach copper, Openreach Full Fibre (FTTP), Virgin Media cable, Cityfibre wholesale, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, KCOM and everyone else.
- Sign up with the new (gaining) provider. Tell them you have an existing UK home broadband contract and pass over your current account number plus the landline number if you want to keep it.
- The gaining provider notifies your existing (losing) provider through a shared industry switching hub. The losing provider has one working day to reply with a single document called the contract summary: it lists the disconnection date, any early termination charges, the cost of unreturned equipment and the loss of any bundled services like email.
- You review the contract summary. If the exit fees are too high, you can pull out of the new contract within the 14-day cooling-off period and stay put with no harm done.
- The switch completes on the agreed date, usually 10 to 14 days after sign-up. The gaining provider does the line work; the losing provider closes the old account; you keep your service running the whole time.
When One Touch Switch does not apply
OTS only covers regulated UK home broadband services. Three situations sit outside it and still require a manual cancellation call:
- Mobile home broadband (Three 5G Home Broadband, EE 5GEE Wi-Fi, Vodafone GigaCube).
- Some altnet community networks (a handful of small fibre projects in rural areas have not yet joined the OTS hub).
- Cancelling without a replacement, for example because you are moving abroad or downgrading to mobile data only.
Step-by-step: switching broadband in 2026
Even with One Touch Switch handling the paperwork, a clean switch follows the same five-step shape. Run through this checklist before you sign up and there are almost no situations the new rules cannot handle.
- Work out what you actually need. Speed: 100 Mbps is plenty for two-person households streaming HD, 300 Mbps and up only matters for heavy 4K streaming, lots of devices or work-from-home video calls. Bundle: separate broadband and TV is almost always cheaper than a bundle now, except on Sky Stream. Contract length: 24 months unlocks the cheapest pricing, 12 months suits renters and short tenancies.
- Check what is available at your postcode. Openreach Full Fibre, Virgin Media cable, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, Cityfibre wholesale, KCOM and a handful of altnets each cover different areas. The cheapest deal often comes from a provider you have never heard of.
- Read the contract summary the new provider sends. It must state in pounds and pence the price you will pay this year, the price after any in-contract rise (new since 17 January 2025), the minimum guaranteed speed, the cooling-off rules and the unreturned-equipment charge.
- Wait out the One Touch Switch window. 10 working days is the minimum before the line switches over. Use the time to bookmark email-account exports, write down the landline number and back up any photos on a TV box or DVR.
- On switch day, plug in the new router when it arrives. On an Openreach-to-Openreach switch, the new connection comes up within minutes of the old one going down. Run a Speedtest within 24 hours so you have a baseline if anything looks wrong later.
How much can switching actually save?
Switching mostly pays for itself in two ways: a lower headline monthly price, and one-off new-customer perks. The current numbers, sampled across the main comparison sites in September 2026, are unusually generous because the wholesale price war between Openreach and the altnets is still playing out.
| Speed tier | New-customer price | Out-of-contract price | Annual saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Around 35 Mbps (entry fibre) | £18-£22 | £30-£35 | £144-£156 |
| Around 67 Mbps (fast fibre) | £22-£28 | £35-£42 | £156-£168 |
| Around 150 Mbps | £24-£30 | £38-£45 | £168-£180 |
| Around 500 Mbps (Full Fibre) | £28-£35 | £45-£55 | £204-£240 |
| Around 900 Mbps (gigabit) | £35-£45 | £55-£70 | £240-£300 |
Indicative prices for stand-alone broadband on a 24-month contract in September 2026. Bundled TV deals and landline add-ons shift the numbers, usually upwards.
Layer on the new-customer perks (Amazon vouchers, free first three months, bill credits, free upgrades to Wi-Fi 6 mesh) and the first-year saving on a like-for-like switch sits comfortably between £150 and £400. Use our roundup of cheapest broadband deals as the starting benchmark.
Switching while you are still in contract
Switching before the minimum term has ended is allowed, but the losing provider will charge an early termination fee for every month left on the deal. The One Touch Switch contract summary spells out the exact figure within one working day of sign-up, so you can decide before committing. The fee usually works out around 75% of the remaining monthly bills.
Three scenarios let you switch mid-contract for free:
- Inside the 14-day cooling-off period of a contract you just signed.
- After a mid-contract price rise that exceeds the pounds-and-pence figure quoted at sign-up.
- If the line drops below the minimum guaranteed download speed under Ofcom\'s Broadband Speeds Code of Practice and the provider cannot fix it.
For the per-month numbers, see our detailed table of broadband cancellation fees by provider and package.
Things to watch out for during the switch
Keeping your landline number
Tell the new provider explicitly that you want to keep the number and give them the account holder name, current account number and the line number itself. Number portability is now handled in software on Digital Voice / VoIP services and usually completes within five working days of the switch. If you do not know the number, see our guide to finding your landline number.
Email accounts on the old provider
BT (btinternet.com), Sky (sky.com) and Virgin Media (virginmedia.com) keep the mailbox open for 90 days to 18 months after the broadband line closes, but it becomes read-only after the first month and storage is capped. Plusnet, TalkTalk and EE close the address shortly after disconnection. Move banking, government and shopping logins to a free Gmail or Outlook address before you trigger the switch, and set up a forwarder on the old address as a safety net.
The router and other kit
Provider-issued routers are locked to that ISP and stop working on the new line. The new provider sends a new router for free or for a one-off £10 delivery fee. The old router has to go back inside the window stamped on the freepost return bag, normally 14 days from the disconnection date. Unreturned-equipment charges range from £35 (Sky, TalkTalk) to £75 (Virgin Media Hub 5, BT Smart Hub 2).
Digital Voice and the 2027 PSTN switch-off
Openreach is migrating every UK landline off the copper PSTN onto Digital Voice (VoIP over the broadband router) by 31 January 2027. Most new contracts already use Digital Voice by default. If you have a telecare alarm or pendant alarm that still dials out via the copper line, tell the new provider before the switch: they have a duty under Ofcom\'s vulnerability guidance to supply a battery backup or hybrid landline phone for free.
Frequently asked questions
No. Since the One Touch Switch process went live on 12 September 2024, the new (gaining) provider triggers the cancellation of your existing line on your behalf. The old (losing) provider then has one working day to confirm the disconnection date, any early termination charges and the cost of unreturned equipment. The only time you still need to call your old provider is if you are leaving home broadband altogether or moving to a non-regulated service like satellite or fixed wireless.
Two weeks is the typical window between signing up and your new connection going live. The 14-day gap covers the 10 working day minimum One Touch Switch waiting period plus a couple of days for the engineer slot. Same-day or next-day switches are possible on Openreach Full Fibre when no engineer visit is needed, but most providers stick to two weeks so customers can use the cooling-off window.
On an Openreach-to-Openreach switch (BT, Sky, EE, TalkTalk, Vodafone, Plusnet, Zen), downtime is usually under an hour and happens automatically at the exchange. Switching between different networks (Virgin Media to Openreach, Openreach to Hyperoptic) means an engineer install on the new line and a few days of overlap, so keep both contracts running until the new one is confirmed live.
Yes, but you have to ask the new provider explicitly. Provide the number, the account holder name and the current account number when you sign up. With Digital Voice (the VoIP replacement for the copper PSTN) the number is held in software so it can usually be ported within a few days.
Switching itself is free. You may still owe an early termination charge on the old contract if you leave inside the minimum term, and the new provider may charge a one-off router-delivery fee of around £10. New customers regularly get bill credits, supermarket gift cards or cashback worth £75 to £200 to offset those costs.
Every UK ISP signed up to Ofcom's Broadband Speeds Code of Practice has to give you a minimum guaranteed download speed at sign-up. If your line falls below that figure and the provider cannot fix it inside 30 days, you have the right to walk away with no exit fee and no quibbling, regardless of the time left on the contract.
Next steps
Before you trigger a switch, compare a handful of deals on speed, monthly price and contract length, then check the contract summary one more time for the in-contract price rise figure. Useful follow-up reading: