LONDON - eTradeWire -- Last year the One Touch Switching Hub was launched by The One Touch Switching Company as a central hub to facilitate consumer broadband and telephony switching. A central hub was a regulatory requirement for the industry to ensure a common consumer experience.

For business switching business Internet Service Providers must follow a gaining provider led process since 3rd April 2023. However, it is difficult to follow such a process without clear industry cooperation and a common process. Just like for OTS, the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA) have worked hard to define a clear business switching process in its steering group. This so-called Gaining provider Led Business process is now the accepted standard from business switching.

Messages need to be formatted using this standard. However, how such messages are transported has been till now unclear. The TAG, a collaboration of 6 organisations deeply involved in providing managed access services for telecoms providers have created an open industry standard for handling GPLB and other messages. The standard was created to overcome the a number of challenges experienced with the OTS process in order to create a better process for GPLB:

1. Create a distributed directory of ISPs and allow providers of switching services to participate in synchronising the directory in a secure manner

1. Avoid the need of a central hub and layered cost structure that has been such a disadvantage to many smaller service providers

1. Resolve the issues that industry has experienced when using OTS such as CP-CP messaging or planned outage notification

1. Enable different providers to offer different types of business switching services without being restricted to one central mechanism or one artificial cost structure

1. Enable future services through an extensible framework. Services such as improved number porting or wholesale services can now be offered across the industry by providers interested in offering such services

The CSF is now available for testing for a growing number of interested IT services or service provider organisations.

More on eTradeWire News

• Andy Powlas and Acts Agency Prepare for Holiday Campaign Rush
• Body Type Diet 101 – Tailored Nutrition for Ectomorphs, Mesomorphs, and Endomorphs
• Global Hunt for Professional Video Games and Sports Players Wanted for New Extreme THUNDERBALL Game
• From War Survivor To Healer - UK Health Practitioner Launches Uganda Health Outreach
• National Family Caregivers Month Shines Light on the Unseen Work of Family Caregivers

Marcel Horst, Chair of TAG, said: "This exciting collaboration provides for the first time in the UK an open and independent cost-effective standard mechanism for ISPs to exchange messages between each other. Many business service providers will be able to implement their GPLB process as mandated by the regulator."

-ENDS –

Notes to Editors

About Technical Architecture Group (TAG): The TAG is a group of companies that have agreed to collaborate on defining open industry standards. The first such standard is the Connected Services Framework (CSF). Something the group aims to submit to a standard accreditation body in due course. The organisations presently participating in the TAG are; NowYoYo, iconectiv, Zentive, ICUK, The Communicationss Gateway and Common Wholesale Platform. For more information about TAG, please visit: https://csfuk.org.



More on eTradeWire News

• Ring in 2026 with Butler Pet Care's New Year Offer — 15% Off All Overnight Pet Care!
• Delirious Comedy Club: The Ultimate Laugh-Out-Loud Destination in Las Vegas
• Putting Your Roses to Bed for Winter in the Deep South - A Gentleman's Guide to Fall Rose Care
• Affordable Luxury Jewellery: How Ermoleve Elevates Everyday Style
• Tens of Thousands Complete Course to Master Entire Bible, Including Revelation