Genzee Ltd

Have you heard the news in the world of telecommunications?  It’s goodbye to rollover (renewable) contracts for landline and broadband customers for good!  This is great news for landline and broadband customers who have had the noose of unwanted repetitive minimum contract renewals around their necks in the past.  The future now looks hopeful for customers wanting to move onto alternative telecoms contracts which they find more financially viable than their existing contracts.

Bit of Background Information

Historically, renewable or Automatically Renewable Contracts, also known as ARC’s, have been commonly sold to customers by telecoms companies without informing the customer beforehand.  This means that the customer could sign a contract for 12 months, for example, and then after 9 months be given a 2 week period in which to cancel.  If the contract was not cancelled within this 2 week timeframe, the contract would be automatically renewed for another 12 months or in some cases much longer.

Why Has the Ban Been Brought in?

According to Ed Richards, Chief Executive of Ofcom (The Office of Communications), the ARCs force customers into long term deals for little gain to them.  He looks to the evidence that Ofcom has shown proving the ARCs “barriers to effective communication” to support his claim.   Mr Richards concluded that because Ofcom was concerned about the effect of ARCs and similar other ‘lock in‘ methods,  they had decided to ban them in the communications sector altogether.

So When Will the Ban on Rollover Contracts Take Place?

Ofcom has set out the following requirements:-
From 1 January 2012 all communications providers to small businesses and residential addresses are prohibited from selling ARCs.
From 1 January 2013 all ARC clauses will no longer be valid; all rollover contracts need to be completely removed from the market by December 31 2012.

What Will This Mean For Existing Customers?

Ofcom requires the above communications providers to move all of their current small business and residential ARC customers to alternative packages before the 31 December 2012 deadline.  
Not all communications providers, however, have used rollover contracts in the past.  We have always put the customer first by offering a 30 day rolling contract for all small businesses who switch their landlines to us.

Further Information

If you want to free yourself from long term contracts and make use of our 30 day notice landlines, please contact our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it on 0800 5200 820

For more information on Ofcom’s statement on ARCs, please visit its website:-
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/arcs/statement