A broadband provider has been penalised by Ofcom for failing to supply accurate location data for nearly 1,000 emergency calls, a lapse the communications watchdog described as putting people at “unacceptable risk”.
Gigaclear has been ordered to pay £122,500 following issues with its caller location information for calls made to 999 or 112 between January 2022 and March 2024. The problem specifically affected phone calls made over the internet, known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), where inaccurate location details were transmitted to emergency services.
A total of 948 calls were impacted by the data failure. While Ofcom stated that no members of the public reportedly experienced significant harm as a direct result, it deemed the breach of its regulations serious enough to warrant the substantial penalty.
George Lusty, Ofcom’s enforcement director, underscored the gravity of the situation. “Providing the emergency services with accurate location data can mean the difference between life and death,” he said. “So it’s vital that telecoms companies set up their systems correctly and test them thoroughly to make sure this happens. We won’t hesitate to hold companies to account, and Gigaclear fell short on a number of basic levels, putting its customers at unacceptable risk for a prolonged period of time.”
Ofcom’s investigation revealed that Gigaclear failed to ensure its third-party supplier had correctly configured the systems responsible for providing caller location data. Furthermore, the firm did not conduct effective testing and neglected to properly investigate a customer complaint related to the issue.
Gigaclear, which provides broadband services to homes and businesses across the south east, south west, and Midlands, with a focus on rural communities, has since reconfigured its systems and implemented measures to prevent future occurrences. The fine, reduced by 30 per cent due to Gigaclear admitting to the issues and agreeing to settle, will be passed to the Treasury.
A spokesperson for Gigaclear expressed the firm’s regret over the “historic configuration” issue with its VoIP service. “By the time we self-reported the issue to Ofcom in April 2024, we had already identified and rectified the error,” they stated. “We have undertaken a full post-incident review to implement the learnings from this incident and put in place processes to ensure that no similar issues arise again. At all times before and after the issue was fixed, all emergency calls placed by our VoIP customers were successfully connected. We are not aware of any actual harm to customers as a result of the issue, but we acknowledge the seriousness of the error and the importance of ensuring accurate caller location information is available to emergency services.”
