A TELECOMS provider that experienced 18 separate network failures in three months last year has avoided a fine after an investigation found that the company had already taken steps to address the issues.
The outages meant that half of Sure Jersey’s customers were unable to call emergency services for almost five hours in total between May and July last year.
An investigation by the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority, which regulates telecoms providers in the Island, into the impact of the outages found there was no evidence that any emergency calls had been affected.
Although the watchdog described the frequency and duration of the outages as “serious concerns”, it decided not to impose a fine after Sure made technical improvements to prevent future disruptions.
Tim Ringsdore, chief executive of the JCRA, said: “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 has 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.”
The findings come after changes to the telecommunications law gave the JCRA broader powers and tougher sanctions to ensure that the communications networks and services on which customers rely operate properly.
The new regulations, approved by States Members in September, now allow fines of up to £10,000 per day for network failures.
