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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will commission an inquiry into the effect on (a) domestic consumers and (b) businesses of the interference to internet and telecommunications services in Christchurch constituency on 28 June 2021; and if he will make a statement.

Reliable access to telecommunications services is vital for the operation of essential services, and our everyday home, work, education, and social lives, and I am sorry to hear about the recent issue experienced by your constituents.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport works with owners, operators and regulators to enable UK telecommunications networks and services to be as resilient as possible, and to respond quickly when incidents occur. As the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom plays an important role in ensuring the ongoing security and resilience of the UK’s public telecoms networks by enforcing the current duties under the Communications Act 2003. Communications providers are responsible for delivering their services, for the resilience of their infrastructure, ensuring faults are fixed and for keeping customers up to date on progress.

From the information you have provided, this appears to relate to an incident with BT affecting internet access in the local area, which was resolved before midday on 28 June 2021. I understand BT reported the fault to Ofcom in line with their obligations, and Ofcom will determine whether further investigation is needed in line with its normal process.

Further information for consumers and businesses can be found on Ofcom’s website: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet, which also describes the formal complaints procedure for consumers unhappy with the response from their provider.