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The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today hit internet phone (VoIP) provider Vonage with a £700,000 fine after an investigation that started in March 2024 (here). The penalty follows an incident that resulted in disruption for its business customers to emergency calling (999) services between 23rd October and 3rd November 2023.
The regulator’s existing General Conditions rules (e.g. General Condition A3.2 and sections 105A, 105C and 105K of the Communications Act 2003) require every communications provider to “ensure the fullest possible availability of public communications services at all times, including in the event of a disaster or catastrophic network failure, and uninterrupted access to emergency organisations.”
Naturally, any failure of such communications, particularly to the emergency services, is extremely serious and could result in a loss of life. This is particularly relevant now that broadband ISPs and their customers are increasingly switching away from traditional phone line services and on to IP-based phone alternatives, which may be more exposed to connectivity problems and power cuts etc.
However, Ofcom’s investigation of Vonage found that, during the aforementioned period, the company’s UK VoIP business customers were “unable to connect to the emergency services when using desk phones” and their internal processes “did not include adequate assessment of whether a software update, which caused the issue, had the potential to impact emergency calls“. As a result, Vonage failed to carry out testing following the update, which led to its emergency call service failing.
The provider also “failed to have adequate monitoring procedures in place“, which meant it did not have sufficient oversight of its network to enable it to identify an outage affecting emergency calls.
George Lusty, Ofcom’s Enforcement Director, said:
“Being able to call the emergency services can mean the difference between life and death. It’s vital that telecoms providers take their responsibilities seriously and if they don’t, we’ll hold them to account. Vonage fell short on a number of levels, putting its customers at unacceptable risk.”
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