The Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority (JCRA) has fined JT (Jersey) Limited £50,000 in relation to a technical failure that caused a partial shutdown of its fixed-line and 4G network in July 2021, in contravention of its operating licence.
The fine reflects the seriousness of the failures, which also caused an outage of emergency call services and the fact that certain factors noted in relation to a previous Island-wide outage a year earlier also applied in this case.
The JCRA notes and welcomes, the co-operation of JT in what has been a long and complex investigation, and JT’s commitment to put in place a system of checks and balances that has improved its infrastructure, process and procedures and will help it to meet best practice going forward. These mitigating factors were considered by the JCRA in calculating the appropriate fine.
Tim Ringsdore (pictured), CEO of the JCRA said: “I am pleased that this investigation is now complete. It was essential that we conducted a root and branch review of how these failures took place and we have issued Directions to JT which will involve JT continuing to report to us on their improvement programme over the coming years, which will help reduce the likelihood of any further recurrence. The licence contraventions were very serious, but we welcome the way in which JT’s team has worked with us, and the measures it has taken to address the issues.”
Tom Noel of JT said: “Since the occurrence of this issue in July 2021, we have worked closely with the JCRA to establish exactly what happened and have put in place all the measures we can to prevent an incident like this in the future. We fully accept the JCRA’s decision and are now focused on ensuring our networks are as resilient as they can be.”
JT chose not to contest the fine, which was therefore reduced to £45,000, which JT has paid.
