Ofcom Probes KCOM About Reduced Network Availability in Hull

The UK telecoms regulator has started a new probe into KCOM Group’s (KC) compliance with their rules due to a “temporary reduction in the availability of its network“, which was formally notified to Ofcom by the operator. But don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.

Broadly speaking the rules require telecoms providers, especially those with their own infrastructure and a USO obligation, to take all necessary technical and organisational measures to manage risks to the security of public electronic communications networks (i.e. keep them running). The goal is a network that functions all of the time and which can also deliver “uninterrupted access to emergency organisations” (police, fire etc.).

However in the real-world it’s not always possible to maintain a network that works 100% of the time and there are always some outages. In this case ISPreview.co.uk understands that Ofcom’s investigation relates to the impact of Storm Eva at the end of January 2016, which caused severe damage to a range of vital infrastructure across the North of England.

Apparently KCOM’s network in Hull was not affected by the impact of flooding, although BT’s network in York was hit harder and KCOM’s service was impacted for a short time while they re-routed some call traffic.

In keeping with that Ofcom’s probe is intended to review the procedures that KCOM have in place for tackling related problems and to identify if there are additional steps that could be taken to improve things.