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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of resilience of an internet-only distribution model for television for public service broadcasting and emergency broadcasting; and what contingency arrangements are in place to guarantee universal access to emergency broadcast information in the event of major cyber incidents, prolonged power outages and mobile or broadband network failure.

The Government understands how important it is that everyone can access information in times of national emergency. Television and radio both play an important role in providing such access in a range of different emergency scenarios. DCMS works closely with broadcast CNI operators and technical authorities to maintain security and resilience against a wide range of scenarios where communications may be disrupted, including power outages.

The BBC has specific requirements under its Framework Agreement in relation to broadcast security and resilience, and works closely with DCMS in ensuring its networks are able to support emergency communications.

The Government’s project looking into the future of TV distribution is considering a range of relevant factors, including the future resilience requirements for broadcast networks.