Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of consumer protections for mobile phone users impacted by long term service outages; and whether she plans to introduce additional regulation to increase those protections.

Telecoms consumers should rightly expect to have access to reliable and affordable connectivity no matter where they live, work or travel.

We have engaged with providers to ensure customers are eligible for compensation and are assessing options to proactively engage affected customers. While we have no current plans to extend regulatory requirements to include service outages, we and Ofcom keep the regulatory framework under review.

Ofcom is responsible for the Automatic Compensation Scheme and so any decision to extend the scheme would be for them. Ofcom also monitors trends in complaints. Operators are required to report significant incidents to Ofcom, who have powers to investigate, rectify and penalise communications providers for any infringement of their duties to ensure their network and services remain available.