§ Dr. CableTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what inquiries(a) he and (b) Oftel have started into the major faults in computers which disrupted 0845 telephone number access, NHS Direct Services and 469W other services in the week beginning 21 February; and what action is to be taken to ensure that the telecommunications infrastructure is not disrupted again. [113178]
§ Ms HewittThe regulation of telecommunications operators is the responsibility of Oftel. Oftel has asked BT for a full report of this network failure and for details of the measures BT will put in place to minimise the risk of this kind of failure happening again. Oftel takes network reliability very seriously and it will scrutinise carefully BT's report. When BT has completed its investigations Oftel will discuss the incident with BT and examine whether any further action will be required to ensure that the risks of further disruption are minimised.