Fuel Broadband shut down: what to do

This move will happen automatically in July, without customers needing to do anything or contact anyone themselves.

However, for those customers who don't wish to remain with the Post Office, things become a little more complicated, since they're likely to be locked into a contract that won't let them leave before a certain date.

Nonetheless, because of the special circumstances customers are in fact able to terminate their contracts with Fuel without penalty, and thereby move to an internet service provider (ISP) of their choice.

Terminating contracts

As we reported yesterday, the collapse of Fuel was brought about primarily by financial losses they and their parent company - New Call Telecoms (NCT) - had sustained over the past few years.

Last year, the ISP once known as Primus made a loss of £18 million, and despite their best efforts in March to attract new customers with discounts, they were unable to grow their customer base to a more sustainable level.

As such, they're winding down their broadband operations, with NCT's Oliver Mackereth explaining, "I would like to confirm that Fuel Broadband is exiting the UK broadband market."

However, for those Fuel customers concerned about losing their broadband connection, he added, "Existing Fuel Broadband customers will be moving to Post Office Telecoms and will experience no disruption in service. Post Office Telecoms will continue our commitment to giving customers a great service as we leave the telecommunications market".

Such a move is scheduled to begin on July 24th and end on August 1st, with customers likely to receive emails well before then giving them their new Post Office account numbers.

And while the transfer process will be automatic, Fuel state on their website that existing customers have the option of terminating their contract without any charge, so that they can move to an ISP other than the Post Office.

To do this, they can phone the Fuel Broadband customer helpline. Contrary to some reports which suggested that this is now inactive, Fuel have actually informed us that it will remain open until the switchover to the Post office is completed.

The fastest growing reseller

However, the desire to move to someone other than the Post Office hopefully won't apply to most Fuel customers. As Fuel explain, the service the Post Office will provide - which is often known for its value for money - will be largely the same.

In Fuel's own words, that's because "The Post Office uses the same core network supplier as Fuel", which happens to be TalkTalk Wholesale.

Added to this, Fuel also explain that "The Post Office Telecom business has over 460,000 customers. They have fully launched Fibre and are the fastest growing reseller in the United Kingdom".

With this in mind, customers should at least rest assured that, even if their beloved supplier will be no more, they'll be moving to a provider ready to pick up Fuel's mantle.