Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that (a) telecoms and (b) network providers meet Ofcom's requirement to have at least one solution that enables access to emergency organisations for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage in the premises.

Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator, has issued guidance to telecoms companies to explain how they can meet their regulatory obligations following the transition from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to IP-based telephony.

It is ultimately the role of Ofcom to ensure telecoms companies and network providers are compliant with this guidance, however, both DCMS and Ofcom meet regularly with telecoms companies and network providers to understand their migration processes and ensure that they meet their regulatory obligations.