BT fined over £17m for ‘catastrophic’ 999 call error

BT has been fined more than £17 million for missing 14,000 emergency calls after technical faults disrupted its emergency calling service for almost 11 hours last summer.

The telecoms regulator launched an investigation shortly after the incident on June 25, 2023. Ofcom published its findings on Monday, saying the handling of the network outage was a “catastrophic failure”.

Suzanne Cater, the watchdog’s director of enforcement, said: “Being able to contact the emergency services can mean the difference between life and death, so providers need to be ready to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a disruption to their networks.

“In this case, BT seriously failed in its responsibilities and was ill-prepared for such a large-scale disruption, exposing its customers to unacceptable risks.

“Today’s fine is a broader warning to all businesses: if you are not properly prepared for disruptions to your networks, we will hold you to account on behalf of consumers.”

BT, which operates the emergency call system, said it took three days to reach all callers who were not connected. BT said a complex software issue affected almost 14,000 call attempts by 12,392 people.

“Being able to contact emergency services can mean the difference between life and death,” Cater said. “So in the event of a disruption to their networks, providers need to be ready to respond quickly and effectively.”

Ofcom said the decision to fine BT £17.5 million was based on a number of factors, including the severity, duration and extent of the harm.

The regulator concluded that BT did not have sufficient warning systems in place for such incidents, nor adequate procedures to quickly assess the severity, impact and likely cause of such a software failure.

It was also found that the telecom company’s disaster recovery platform did not have sufficient capacity and functionality to handle reasonably expected demand.

“While there have been no confirmed reports from the emergency services of serious harm to the public as a result of the incident, the potential level of harm was extremely significant,” Ofcom said.

BT apologised for the technical glitch, saying it takes “great pride” in running the 999 service and that in this instance it had “failed to meet our own high standards”.

A BT spokesman said: “The level of disruption to the service on Sunday 25 June last year was unprecedented and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.

“While no technology is 100% resilient, we have built a very robust network with multiple layers of protection to connect the public to blue light services in times of need. We take our responsibility to the emergency services and the public seriously, and in this case we fell short of our own high standards for the 999 service.”