Ofcom fines BT £17.5m for 'catastrophic' 999 failings

The regulator has fined BT Group nearly £18m over “catastrophic” 999 call-handling failures, it was announced on Monday.

BT connects both 999 and 112 calls in the UK, as well as providing relay services for deaf and speech-impaired people.

But on 25 June 2023, network disruption meant nearly 14,000 call attempts from 12,392 callers were unsuccessful over a ten-hour period.

Following an investigation into the “catastrophic failure”, Ofcom found BT had not been properly prepared to handle the incident. In particular, it said BT did not have sufficient warnings systems in place, nor adequate procedures for promptly assessing the severity, impact and likely cause.

It has therefore fined BT £17.5m.

Suzanne Cater, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said: “Being able to contact the emergency services can mean the difference between life and death.

“In this case, BT fell woefully short of its responsibilities and was ill-prepared to deal with such a large-scale outage, putting its customers at unacceptable risk.

“Today’s fine sends a broader warning to all firms: if you’re not prepared to deal with disruption to your networks, we’ll hold you to strict account.”

The fine was reduced by 30%, in recognition of BT’s admission of liability and agreement to settle the case. BT self-reported the incident, as required by law, shortly afterwards.

BT reported annual profits of £1.19bn in May on revenues of £20.8bn.