I'm sending this message via my Vodafone mobile broadband, which is the only Internet access I have right now.

Last week, as mentioned previously in this Forum, I switched from a short period with Vodafone to Snap internet, whose service has been excellent. By Friday, it was clear that both my broadband and my phone service was under the control of Snap.

My anniversary date with Vodafone is the 22nd, so last Friday the 20th, I called Vodafone to ask if they had received notification that I had changed providers, since I did not want to begin another billing cycle. The person I spoke with at Vodafone told me that they hadn't received any such notification. I told them that my phone and broadband were now with another provider, so I wanted my Vodafone account closed.

Yesterday, the 22nd, my Vodafone/Ihug billing anniversary, I lost phone service. Calls to our number gave a number unobtainable signal. An hour or so later, I also lost broadband.

Sadly, Snap Internet is not open on a Sunday, and while there is voicemail, there is no way to contact anyone on an urgent matter. Knowing it was a long shot but wanting to try to do something, I called 120. I explained the predicament, making it clear that I am not a Telecom customer but asking if they could advise how I get to the people doing provisioning of the requests. I felt that surely, if I could talk to a sensible person doing the provisioning, a look at the records would show that Snap had connected me and that in fact Vodafone had no authority to disconnect my service, since they were no longer my provider.

I was put on hold, and eventually was speaking with someone at Telecom. It wasn't until we'd been talking for a while that I realised I appeared to have been put through to 123. The Telecom operator was extremely helpful, offering to speak to her team leader and call back, saying she suspected there wasn't a lot they could do.

She called back as promised, which was most impressive, saying that there was indeed nothing that they could do for me while I was a Snap Internet customer, but should I wish to switch to Telecom, they could have me backup and running within two to four hours. I thanked her and said that I didn't find their broadband offerings attractive.

I chose not to call Vodafone, given that I presumed they had no authority to reconnect my Snap Internet, even though it seems they have the ability to disconnect it.

I resigned myself to a phone and ADSL-free Sunday.

I was in touch with Snap first thing this morning, and as always they have been helpful. They put through a new connection request which apparently is the only way to get me back online.

I was staggered to hear that there appear to be no checks when an ISP puts through a disconnection request to Telecom, to determine whether an ISP actually has the authority to get someone disconnected. This sounds like the wild west, and certainly leaves open the possibility that an ISP can disconnect someone as a penalty for changing providers.

Now here's the kicker. Snap has been told that my Internet and phone won't be restored until tomorrow! Apparently Snap say they even had to lobby for this date, which was a concession on the original reconnection time Telecom gave.

My concern is that the 123 service arm of Telecom told me, on a Sunday afternoon no less, that I could have my connection back within two to four hours if I only gave them my business. Here I am seeking the reversal of an unwarranted, illegitimate disconnection from my provider, and they are making me wait at least 24 hours. This is exactly the sort of favouritism operational separation was supposed to avoid.

This is no joke. I have a major software release to manage with my colleagues in the US, a task for which Vodafone mobile broadband is not suitable. I also have Skype conference calls for work scheduled.

I'm certainly going to investigate compensation, and the disputes resolution process. Vodafone had no right to put through a disconnection order, and Telecom had no right to disconnect me without checking the legitimacy of such an order.

Since consumers can't get to the provisioning people, I asked Snap to tell them that I intend making lots of noise about a system that allows one provider to kill the services of another, and over the discrepancy between what they will do for Telecom customers and what they will do for Snap customers in exactly the same situation.

Now it's interesting, because since I started typing this message, I now have the phone, but not Internet, back. So I presume that message was passed on. I am hoping Internet isn't far behind, but if anyone knows who I can contact over all this, I'd appreciate any guidance.