Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has had recent discussions with Ofcom on increasing the four-hour minimum time requirement for power backup during power outages in the broadband phone network.

Communication providers have statutory responsibilities to take appropriate and proportionate steps to provide resilient networks and services. Ofcom published guidance in September 2024 on the measures that providers can take to meet those responsibilities, which sets out that power backup of at least four hours is good practice for active fixed access equipment in cabinets at the point of installation.

Ofcom also requires providers to ensure customers making calls over broadband are able to make emergency calls in the event of a power cut at their premises for a minimum of one hour. On 14 March, Vodafone, BT, KCOM and Zen Internet announced that they will introduce a Broadband Battery Backup capable of powering routers for four-to-seven hours. This follows the agreement of the Checklist for Non-Voluntary Migrations agreed by providers in November 2024.

Ofcom are reviewing the power resilience of mobile networks, and on 10 February announced work they may complete to review power outages affect broadband networks in the UK.