Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on the resilience of mobile masts serving rural communities to prolonged power outages.

Whilst telecommunications services are generally resilient, they can be disrupted, and we recognise the impact that prolonged power cuts can have, especially on rural communities. In December 2023, Ofcom launched a public Call for Input on the power back-up at mobile access sites across the UK. They published an update on their work in February this year, confirming they are completing further analysis to determine the appropriate and proportionate measures that mobile operators should put in place. The Department has supported this work and looks forward to its conclusions.