Mobile provider Three fined £1.9m for failing to ensure customers could contact emergency services at all times

The network broke a rule of ‘utmost importance to public health and safety’, Ofcom said

'The fine reflects the seriousness of the breach, given the potential impact on public health and safety,' Ofcom said (PA)

Media watchdog Ofcom has fined Three £1.9m for failing to ensure customers could contact emergency services at all times.

An Ofcom investigation found the mobile network broke a rule of “utmost importance to public health and safety” that is designed to ensure everyone has access to fire, police and ambulance services via their phone.

Ofcom said in a statement on Friday that it expects providers’ emergency call services to be sufficiently resilient. This includes ensuring their networks are built to allow emergency calls to be connected, even when they experience technical problems.

In October last year, during a temporary loss of service affecting customers in Kent, Hampshire and parts of London, Three was vulnerable to a “single point of failure” because it did not have adequate backup in place. Customers' calls had to pass through one particular data centre, Ofcom found.

Three’s network should have been able to automatically divert emergency calls via back-up routes in the event of a local outage. But these back-up routes would also have failed because they were all directed through this one point, in breach of Ofcom rules.

Other networks should ensure that they are not guilty of similar failings, the regulator said.

“The fine reflects the seriousness of the breach, given the potential impact on public health and safety,” Ofcom said. The penalty was reduced by 30 per cent because Three cooperated with the investigation.

Gaucho Rasmussen, Ofcom’s enforcement and investigations director, said: “Telephone access to the emergency services is extremely important, because failures can have serious consequences for people’s safety and wellbeing.”

“Today’s fine serves as a clear warning to the wider telecoms industry. Providers must take all necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted access to emergency services.”

In a statement, Three said it acknowledged the fine but pointed out that the "vulnerability has not had any impact on our customers and only relates to a potential point of failure in Three’s network".

Earlier this week, people using Three's mobile network found themselves temporarily unable to receive calls from customers using EE phones.

Users could make outgoing calls, send texts and use data, but some experienced “connectivity issues”.