Nimans has upped its partner education activity around 2025, following a survey of the company's partners that revealed only 46% are fully aware of the switch off, and of these, only 81% are actively communicating the change with their customers.
The distributor has launched a series of campaigns to ensure its channel understands the scale of upcoming opportunities, kicking this off with its its Nimans Connect Switch Off Event held at the BT Tower on Thursday 14th March.
Here, the distributor shared research from within its own partner base that highlighted the need for further education. Just over half (54%) are facing technical challenges and 33% state that their customers are not ready or prepared for upgrades.
Most concerningly 5% of Nimans partners have no understanding or awareness of the switch off.
Alongside partner events such as this, Nimans is attempting to increase education through supplier webinars, brochures and workshops. It will also offer data-washing services as well as marketing and billing support.
Andrew Copper, Head of Sales at Nimans Connect, said: “There is clearly lots of education still to do, and our focus is to emphasise that partners should be taking imminent action. Having the 2025 date linked to the switch-off makes it feel like tomorrow’s issue, but we must start the work now.”
Nimans invited multiple vendor partners to the event to speak, with Zen’s MD of Partners Stephen Warburton suggesting a starting place for partners yet to kick off their migration campaign.
“In planning for the move you first need to understand your data and the state of play across your entire estate,” he said.
This includes understanding which lines are capable of FTTP and any complexities or vulnerabilities that need to be considered.
“Get your data right then split it into cohorts,” he advised. “Start with some customers who will be friendly and open to migration, then prioritise those where you may have the broadband, but the WLR line is owned by another provider. This way you avoid a race for the migration.”
He suggests this is a strong first step for migrations, and echoes that the time for action is now.
“We are talking about once-in-a-generation opportunities, so don’t be scared to take the first step and ask questions along the way.”