The Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority has completed its investigation into a series of incidents affecting the mobile network of Sure in Jersey.
The investigation identified potential risks to emergency service calls which demonstrate regulatory contraventions. However, in light of the steps taken by Sure in response to the investigation, no further action will be taken.
Between 5 May 2023 and 3 July 2023, Sure experienced 18 network disruptions totalling almost five hours of service downtime, impacting approximately 50% of Sure’s mobile customer base, during each incident.
The Authority’s investigation focused on the potential impact of these disruptions on emergency service calls. For affected customers active calls to 999 at the time of the incidents would have been impacted, and any attempts to connect to the emergency services would have failed. Impacted customers would have needed to use alternative methods, such as landlines or other mobile networks, to reach emergency services.
However, based on the information provided by Sure, only test calls were impacted during these incidents, and no emergency calls from the public are believed to have been affected.
The Authority’s investigation concluded that these incidents demonstrated contraventions by Sure of three of its licence conditions set out under the Telecommunications (Jersey) Law
2002. In response to the Authority’s investigation, Sure has taken a number of steps to improve its awareness and handling of such incidents and to prevent similar in the future. In light of this, the Authority has determined that no further action is required.
Tim Ringsdore, CEO of the Authority, commented: “The Authority treats any incidents which impact emergency service calls with the utmost seriousness. Although no calls from the public were affected in this case, the frequency and duration of these incidents raised significant concerns. In response to our investigation Sure has since implemented several measures to enhance its response to network issues and committed to further improvements to prevent similar occurrences. Based on these actions, the Authority has decided not to take further action against Sure at this time.
“We appreciate Sure’s proactive engagement throughout the investigation.”
