Chris Seeks Impact Of Electrical Outages On Fibre Broadband Households
Christopher Chope Conservative, Christchurch
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of electricity supply disruption on households with fibre broadband.
Julia Lopez Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office), The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DSIT engages regularly with Communication Providers and Ofcom regulate how telecoms companies should fulfil their regulatory obligations in the event of a power cut. Communication Providers are required to meet standards and specifications set out in the General Conditions of Entitlement, under obligations imposed by the Communications Act 2003, to ensure continuity of service. Ofcom guidance states that communications providers should have at least one solution that enables access to emergency organisations, for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage.
DSIT works closely on a range of resilience issues in partnership with industry, through the Electronic Communications Resilience & Response Group (EC-RRG), who engage in regular dialogue with the Energy Networks Association across a range of issues to help strengthen resilience between the two sectors. Ofcom recently closed a consultation on proposing a set of revised resilience guidance for communications providers with a statement on the resilience guidance expected in summer 2024.
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