British Telecommunications (BT) is now the subject of an inquiry after a Sunday grave interruption to the United Kingdom's 999 call systems. Due to a technological glitch, 999 calls were not connecting, causing significant problems for emergency services nationwide.
On Sunday night, BT, the organization in charge of the 999 emergency phone system, apologized for the disruption. Ofcom, the government agency that regulates communications, will review BT's compliance, The Guardian reported.
Ofcom said that telecom companies like BT must guarantee emergency groups always have access to their call services under its guidelines. Additionally, carriers must comply with these requirements and provide the best possible call and internet availability, even in the case of severe network disruptions.
Ofcom will use its investigation to gather more about what transpired and determine if BT's handling of the matter broke any laws or guidelines.
Emergency Services Disrupted For Hours
Due to a technical difficulty, the UK's police, ambulance, and fire and rescue services asked the public to refrain from dialing 999 on Sunday morning. BT said on Monday that using a backup mechanism had resolved the issues.
However, as it has taken British Telecommunications more than three hours to inform ministers about the problems that initially surfaced at 6:30 a.m., concerns were raised regarding the timeliness of BT's disclosure to the government.
On Sunday morning, Science, Innovation, and Technology Minister Viscount Camrose recognized the service's technical difficulty. At 9:20 a.m., he informed the government. He told the House of Lords that BT may have notified the government sooner and will be investigated.
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The London Metropolitan Police Department warned the public of the connectivity problems on Sunday and advised calling the usual police number (101), per the BBC. Some services were back to normal by midday, while others were not. These included Essex's fire service, South Wales' police, Police Scotland, and the PSNI.
Investigation Results To Be Released Soon
The Ofcom regulatory framework mandates BT and other network operators to take all necessary steps to provide continuous access to emergency organizations within their call services. As a result of the event, BT has launched an internal probe.
A representative of British Telecommunications said they are almost through with their inquiry and want to report their findings to the appropriate authorities, the emergency services, and Ofcom by Thursday, per Sky News.
The incident's technical elements, the switchover to the backup system, and the timeliness of interactions with the emergency services, Ofcom, and the government will all be examined as part of the probe.
After removing secret information about essential national infrastructure, BT will release the preliminary results publicly.
In an earlier report, first responders were stretched thin this year due to an increase in false 911 calls made during the Bonnaroo music festival, which drew an estimated 80 thousand attendees.
The new Apple technology has been blamed for the rise in calls since it alerts emergency services whenever a device detects a sudden movement, as reported by TechTimes. Despite an increase in false alarms, authorities maintained control and were not hindered in their capacity to react to actual emergencies.
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