A large fine of £17.5 million has been laid on the telecom giant after a massive network disruption in June 2023 left 14,000 emergency calls unanswered. This 10.5-hour outage exposed some serious flaws in BT’s operations.
The issue stemmed from a server configuration error that wreaked havoc on BT’s emergency call handling system. Ofcom’s investigation pointed out BT’s lack of adequate warning systems, insufficient disaster recovery capacity, and poor incident response procedures.
While there were no confirmed reports of serious harm, the potential risk was massive. This fine serves as a strong reminder to all network providers about the critical need for robust emergency response measures. BT has since made improvements, but this incident underscores the vital importance of ensuring networks can handle unexpected disruptions, keeping public safety at the forefront.
Here’s a breakdown of the incident:(you can read the full Ofcom statement here)
Phase 1 (06:24 – 07:33): A configuration error on BT’s server disrupted the emergency call handling system, causing agents’ systems to restart, log out, or drop calls. BT couldn’t initially identify the issue and tried switching to the disaster recovery platform.
Phase 2 (07:33 – 08:50): The switch to the disaster recovery platform failed due to poorly documented instructions and team unfamiliarity, escalating the issue to a total system outage.
Phase 3 (08:50 – 16:56): Unsuccessful call rates decreased after successfully migrating to the disaster recovery platform, but normal service wasn’t fully restored as the platform struggled with demand.
There’s no doubt, the sum of monies will bring the right attention, but it won’t do too much damage to the £2.7BN giant, that’s for sure.
Suzanne Carter, Ofcoms Director of Enforcement added these words:
“Being able to contact the emergency services can mean the difference between life and death, so in the event of any disruption to their networks, providers must be ready to respond quickly and effectively. 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 properly prepared to deal with disruption to your networks, we’ll hold you to strict account on behalf of consumers”
At this point, we haven’t seen any formal response from BT, but will make sure to update this article when we do.
