Ofcom Fines UK ISP Gateway Telecom £150 Per Day for Failure to Respond

Telecoms and broadband provider Gateway Telecom (GW Telecom Ltd.) faces a £150 daily penalty for each further day from 20th October 2017 that they fail to comply with Ofcom’s second statutory information request, which relates to the regulator’s probe of the firms number portability.

Number portability enables subscribers to retain their telephone number(s) when they switch communication providers (General Condition 18) and Ofcom has been in the process of investigating GW Telecom’s compliance with their rules since earlier this year (here). This followed an allegation that Gateway had “failed to respond to a porting request from Numbergroup in relation to a customer who wished to switch providers.”

Unfortunately it seems as if Gateway Telecom aren’t too keen to engage with Ofcom over the issue and it’s not the first time.

Ofcom Statement

During our ongoing investigation, we issued a second information request to Gateway under section 135 of the Communications Act 2003. As Gateway again failed to respond to this statutory request, we issued a second Confirmation Decision to Gateway on 20 October 2017.

Ofcom has imposed a £150 daily penalty for each further day from 20 October 2017 that Gateway fails to comply with the second statutory information request. The £150 daily penalty will be imposed until the sooner of the date Gateway comes into compliance with the second statutory information request and provides the requested information, or 22 November 2017.

In respect of the first Confirmation Decision issued on 20 July 2017, Ofcom imposed a fixed penalty of £1,100 together with a £100 daily penalty for each day that the contravention continued after 20 July 2017 for a maximum of 91 days. As Gateway failed to come into compliance with the first statutory information request, the daily penalty accrued until 20 October 2017 and amounted to £9,100. Therefore, Ofcom imposed a total financial penalty of £10,200 in respect of the first information breach.

Oh dear.

UPDATE 3pm

It’s been pointed out that the Companies House records for GW Telecom Ltd. show that the company is in the process of being struck off (here), which would certainly explain why they haven’t responded. This will of course hinder the likelihood of Ofcom’s fine ever being paid. However for the time being they remain active and are still subject to the rules.