notification section 94 gc4.2 talktalk · notification to talktalk telecom group plc of...

Notification to TalkTalk Telecom Group plc of Contravention of General Condition 4.2 under

section 94 and section 98 of the Communications Act 2003

Notice served on TalkTalk Telecom Group plc by the Office

of Communications (“Ofcom”)

This version is non-confidential.

Confidential redactions are

indicated by [ ]

Issue Date: 19 April 2011

Notification served on TalkTalk Telecom Group plc by Ofcom

1

Contents

Section

Page

Notification to TalkTalk plc of contravention of General Condition 4.2 under section 94 of the Communications Act 2003 2 Explanatory Statement 1 Background 52 Ofcom's investigation 93 General Condition 4.2 124 Information gathered 165 Action required from TalkTalk 21


2

Notification to TalkTalk Telecom Group plc of contravention of General Condition 4.2 under section 94 and section 98 of the Communications Act 2003 Interpretation

1. Words or expressions used in this Notification and accompanying Explanatory Statement have the same meaning as in the Schedule to the notification issued by the Director General of Telecommunications on 22 July 2003 under section 48(1) of the Communications Act 2003, which took effect from 25 July 20031 (“the General Conditions” 2

Section 94 and section 98 of the Communications Act 2003

) or the Act unless otherwise stated.

2. Section 94 of the Act allows the Office of Communications (“Ofcom”) to issue a notification to a person where Ofcom has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is contravening or has contravened a condition set under section 45 of the Act.

3. Section 98 of the Act applies where Ofcom is entitled to give a notification under section 94; that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the case is an urgent case (as set out in that section); and the urgency of the case makes it appropriate for Ofcom to take action under that section. Where these criteria are met, Ofcom may in a notification under section 94 specify a period of less than one month for the recipient of the notification to make representations about the matter notified; comply with the notified conditions of which it remains in contravention; and remedy the consequences of a notified contravention.

Determination made by Ofcom

4. Ofcom hereby determines that, in relation to TalkTalk Telecom Group plc ("TalkTalk"), company number 7105891, registered address 11 Evesham Street, London W11 4AR:

(a) there are reasonable grounds for believing that it has contravened, and is contravening, General Condition 4.2 (provision of Caller Location Information). Specifically, TalkTalk has failed to ensure that Caller Location Information is made available to the Emergency Organisations, to the extent technically feasible; and

(b) that the case is an urgent case as the contravention of General Condition 4.2 has resulted in, or creates an immediate risk of, a serious threat to the safety of the public, to public health or to national security.

5. The reasons for Ofcom’s decision are set out in the accompanying Explanatory Statement.

1 The General Conditions are amended from time to time. The General Conditions as amended as at 30 July 2010 are applicable in this case. 2 http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/telecoms/ga/cvogc300710.pdf

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/telecoms/ga/cvogc300710.pdf�


3

General Condition 4.2

6. Section 45(1) of the Act gives Ofcom the power to set conditions, including General Conditions, binding on the person to whom they are applied.

7. The General Conditions took effect from 25 July 2003 and apply to all Communications Providers.

8. Ofcom has investigated TalkTalk’s compliance with General Condition 4.2. TalkTalk has cooperated fully with Ofcom’s investigation.

9. This Notification is issued on the basis that TalkTalk has contravened, and is contravening, General Condition 4.2 which requires that:

"The Communications Provider shall, to the extent technically feasible, make Caller Location Information for all calls to the emergency call numbers "112" and "999" available to the Emergency Organisations handling those calls."

10. Sections 94 to 96 of the Act provide for the “enforcement of conditions” and give Ofcom powers to take action, including the imposition of penalties, against persons who contravene, or have contravened, a condition set under section 45 of the Act.

Action required from TalkTalk

11. TalkTalk is required to comply with the requirements of General Condition 4.2 and remedy the consequences of contravention of General Condition 4.2 as set out in this Notification and Explanatory Statement as soon as is practicable and in any case by 5 pm on 10 May 2011 (“the deadline”). This time-frame has been calculated on the basis that, on 11 April 2011, TalkTalk advised us that it would need another four to five weeks to remedy the inaccuracies in its customer records, excluding a small number of customers who are on the Cable & Wireless (“C&W”) Call Handling Agent (“CHA”) system (the “legacy Bulldog customers”)3

12. Specifically, the steps Ofcom would expect TalkTalk to take include, but are not limited to, the following:

. The date of 10 May 2011 is just over four weeks from the date of 11 April 2011, and three weeks from the date of this Notification. Ofcom has no reason to believe that it would not be technically feasible for TalkTalk to remedy all the inaccuracies in its customer records (including the legacy Bulldog customers).

(a) to complete the audit that it is currently undertaking (including the appropriate implementation of any findings and recommendations that arise from that process) to ensure that:

(i) all of the Caller Location Information that TalkTalk has recorded in relation to each of its customers reflects, to the extent technically feasible, the correct location at which TalkTalk’s services are being provided to that customer; and

(ii) to the extent technically feasible, there are no inconsistencies between Caller Location Information held by or on behalf of TalkTalk and the Caller Location Information made available to the Emergency

3 Bulldog is a legacy brand which was acquired by Pipex in 2006.


4

Organisations handling calls to the emergency call numbers “112” and “999”;

(b) to ensure that TalkTalk’s arrangements for recording, storing and updating all Caller Location Information in the future (whether for existing customers or new customers) enable TalkTalk to comply with its obligations under General Condition 4.2.

13. From the date of this Notification until such time as Ofcom determines, TalkTalk is required to provide Ofcom with weekly updates of the progress and results of its exercise to verify all its caller location data held by or on behalf of TalkTalk and the Caller Location Information available to the emergency organisations handling calls to the emergency call numbers “112 and “999”.

14. In the event that TalkTalk does not comply with General Condition 4.2 and/or fails to remedy the consequences of contravention of General Condition 4.2 as set out in the Notification and Explanatory Statement, Ofcom may issue an enforcement notification under section 95 of the Act and/or may impose a penalty on TalkTalk under section 96 of the Act.

15. Representations in response to this Notification

16. TalkTalk has until 5 pm on 10 May 2011 (“the deadline”) to make representations to Ofcom about the matters set out in this Notification and the accompanying Explanatory Statement.

Neil Buckley Director of Investigations 19 April 2011


5

Explanatory Statement

Section 1

1 Background General Condition 4.2

1.1 General Condition 4.2 implements Article 26(3) of the Universal Service Directive4

“Member States shall ensure that undertakings which operate public telephone networks make caller location information available to authorities handling emergencies, to the extent technically feasible, for all calls to the single European call number “112””.

. This states:

1.2 The purpose of Article 26(3) is reflected in the Recitals to the Universal Service Directive. Recital 36 states that:

“Caller location information, to be made available to the emergency services, will improve the level of protection and the security of users of “112” services and assist the emergency services, to the extent technically feasible, in the discharge of their duties, provided that the transfer of calls and associated data to the emergency services concerned is guaranteed.”

1.3 Member States may, under the Authorisation Directive5, make consumer protection rules that are specific to the electronic communications sector, including conditions in conformity with the Universal Service Directive6

1.4 Section 45 of the Act gives Ofcom the power to set conditions binding Communications Providers (which the Act defines to mean persons who provide an electronic communications network or electronic communications service).

. General Condition 4.2 (which helps implement Article 26(3) of the Universal Service Directive) is made in accordance with the Authorisation Directive.

1.5 On 22 July 2003, the Director General of Telecommunications issued a notification under section 48(1) of the Act setting, pursuant to section 45 of the Act, the General Conditions.

4 2002/22/EC. The Directive has since been amended by Directive 2009/136/EC and Ofcom has consulted on changes to the General Conditions and Universal Service Conditions in light of those amendments (see: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/gc-usc/ ) This consultation closed on 7 April 2011 and, following consideration of stakeholder responses, we intend to issue a statement ahead of the 25 May 2011 deadline for transposition. However, for the purposes of this Notification, the existing Article 26(3) and General Condition 4.2 applies. 5 2002/20/EC. 6 See Condition 8 of Part A of the Annex to the Authorisation Directive.

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/gc-usc/�


6

1.6 The General Conditions took effect from 25 July 2003 and apply to all Communications Providers (see below). They have been amended subsequently7

1.7 As at the date of this Notification, General Condition 4 reads as follows:

, including amendments to General Condition 4 in September 2008.

“4.1 The Communications Provider shall ensure that any End User can access Emergency Organisations by using the emergency call numbers “112” and “999” at no charge and, in the case of a Pay Telephone, without having to use coins or cards.

4.2 The Communications Provider shall, to the extent technically feasible, make Caller Location Information for all calls to the emergency call numbers “112” and “999” available to the Emergency Organisations handling those calls.

4.3 For the purposes of this Condition,

(a) “Caller Location Information” means any data or information processed in an Electronic Communications Network indicating the geographic position of the terminal equipment of a person initiating a call;

(b) “Communications Provider” means:

(i) in paragraph 4.1, a person who provides a Service, or provides access to such Service by means of a Pay Telephone8

(c) “Pay Telephone” means a telephone for the use of which the means of payment may include coins and/or credit/debit cards and/or pre-payment cards, including cards for use with dialling codes. For the avoidance of any doubt, references to a Pay Telephone include references to a Public Pay Telephone

;

(ii) in paragraph 4.2, a person who provides a Public Telephone Network;

9

(e) “Click to Call Service” means a service which may be selected on a web-site or other application by an End User and which connects the End User only to a number or a limited set of numbers pre-selected by the Communications Provider or an End User”.

;

(d) “Service” means a Public Electronic Communications Service enabling origination of calls to numbers in the National Telephone Numbering Plan but shall exclude any Click to Call Service;

7 The General Conditions as amended as at 30 July 2010 are applicable in this case. This version of the General Conditions includes the amendments that were made to General Condition 4 in September 2008. 8 Regulation of VoIP Services: Access to the Emergency Services - Statement and publication of a statutory notification under section 48(1) of the Communications Act 2003 modifying General Condition 4 (5 December 2007) – replaced “in paragraph 4.1, a person who provides Publicly Available Telephone Services, or provides access to such Publicly Available Telephone Services by means of a Pay Telephone” with effect from 8 September 2008. 9 Regulation of VoIP Services: Access to the Emergency Services - Statement and publication of a statutory notification under section 48(1) of the Communications Act 2003 modifying General Condition 4 (5 December 2007) – added in (d) and (e) with effect from 8 September 2008.


7

1.8 "Emergency Organisation" is defined in Part 1 of the Schedule to the notification under section 48(1) of the Act and means in respect of any locality:

(a) the relevant public police, fire, ambulance and coastguard services for that locality; and

(b) any other organisation, as directed from time to time by the Director as providing a vital service relating to the safety of life in emergencies;

1.9 "End User" is also defined in Part 1 of the Schedule to the notification under section 48(1) of the Act and, in relation to a Public Electronic Communications Service, means:

(a) a person who, otherwise than as a Communications Provider, is a Customer of the provider of that service;

(b) a person who makes use of the service otherwise than as a Communications Provider; or

(c) a person who may be authorised, by a person falling within paragraph (a), so to make use of the service.

TalkTalk

1.10 TalkTalk launched in 2003 as a subsidiary of the Carphone Warehouse Group plc, following the acquisition of Opal Telecom in November 2002. TalkTalk acquired Tiscali (including the Pipex brand) in July 2009. In March 2010 the company demerged from the Carphone Warehouse Group and was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

1.11 TalkTalk describes itself as “one of the leading fixed line voice and broadband telecommunications businesses in the UK”. Its website states that it markets to residential customers under the “TalkTalk” and “AOL” brands and to business customers principally under the “TalkTalk Business” brand. TalkTalk also provides services to other Communications Providers who resell these services to residential and business customers. It operates its own all-IP next generation network, which it states is “the UK’s largest unbundled local loop footprint by number of unbundled exchanges”.

1.12 The company has built its Local Loop Unbundling (LLU)10 network, which allows it to directly connect to its customers and has access to 1,748 fully unbundled exchanges11 providing coverage to 85% of the population.12

10 Local Loop Unbundling is a wholesale service supplied by BT which permits an alternative provider to take over the copper pair used to deliver exchange line services, and use that copper pair to deliver their own services. BT’s local loops are physically disconnected from its network and connected to another Communication Provider’s network. This enables competing providers partly or wholly to lease a customer’s access line and provide voice and / or data services directly to end users. There are two forms of LLU: Metallic Path Facility (MPF) or “full LLU” and Shared Metallic Path Facility (SMPF) which relates to only providing data services using LLU.

TalkTalk supplies more

11 See page 3 of http://media.tiscali.co.uk/sites/www.talktalkgroup.com/pdf/corporate/talktalk-q4-trading-update.pdf. 12 http://www.talktalk.co.uk/media/files/corporate/pdf/demerger-final.pdf.

http://media.tiscali.co.uk/sites/www.talktalkgroup.com/pdf/corporate/talktalk-q4-trading-update.pdf�


http://www.talktalk.co.uk/media/files/corporate/pdf/demerger-final.pdf�


8

than 4.2 million residential broadband customers13, and around 999,000 voice-only customers.14 Of TalkTalk’s 4.2 million residential broadband customers, approximately [ ] million are supplied using MPF. TalkTalk Group also provides broadband and/or voice access and services to 160,000 SME sites, and provides wholesale products to more than 500 Communications Providers.15

13 TalkTalk states that ‘at December 2009, TalkTalk had 72% of its customers on its own network and has significant scope to migrate more’ (http://www.talktalkgroup.com/corporate-information/). 14 See page 3 of http://media.tiscali.co.uk/sites/www.talktalkgroup.com/pdf/corporate/talktalk-q4-trading-update.pdf. 15 See page 12 of http://www.talktalk.co.uk/media/files/corporate/pdf/demerger-final.pdf.

http://www.talktalkgroup.com/corporate-information/�



http://www.talktalk.co.uk/media/files/corporate/pdf/demerger-final.pdf�


9

Section 2

2 Ofcom's investigation Initial contact with TalkTalk

2.1 On 25 February 2011 BT notified us of a 999 incident which had taken place in early January 2011 in which a customer’s Caller Location Information supplied by TalkTalk to BT and by BT to the emergency services proved to be inaccurate. The incorrect Caller Location Information caused the customer’s emergency call to be routed to the Yorkshire Ambulance Service rather than the Scottish Ambulance Service and this in turn delayed the dispatch of an ambulance to the customer’s address. We refer to this as the “January incident”.

2.2 We contacted TalkTalk regarding the January incident on 25 February and TalkTalk informed us on 28 February that it had instigated an urgent review into the matter.

2.3 On 28 February Ofcom held a telephone conversation with BT, who acts as the CHA handling emergency calls for TalkTalk and who had liaised directly with the ambulance service in the January incident.

Enquiry phase

2.4 On 1 March 2011 Ofcom opened an “own-initiative enquiry”16

2.5 On 4 March 2011 Ofcom held a meeting with TalkTalk. During this meeting TalkTalk reported further on what it knew of the incident and on the progress of its own investigation.

into TalkTalk’s compliance with General Condition 4, in particular General Condition 4.2. The purpose of this enquiry was to consider whether a full investigation of TalkTalk’s compliance was required.

2.6 On 4 March 2011 Ofcom sent a number of written questions to TalkTalk in relation to its Caller Location Information processes and audit procedures, as well as the January incident. TalkTalk responded to these questions on 10 March 2011.

2.7 On 11 March 2011 Ofcom held a telephone conversation with TalkTalk regarding its response of 10 March. During this telephone conversation, Ofcom asked a number of further questions to which TalkTalk responded on 18 March 2011.

2.8 On 16 March we wrote to TalkTalk to highlight our concerns regarding the actions taken by TalkTalk up to that point and to suggest that urgent action should be taken to address these concerns.17

16 Ofcom may commence an “own-initiative enquiry” when, in the absence of receiving a specific complaint, it decides that it is appropriate to investigate compliance with a condition set under section 46 of the Act. 17 Letter from Neil Buckley to Andrew Heaney, 16 March 2011


10

Full investigation

2.9 On 21 March 2011 Ofcom opened an investigation into TalkTalk’s compliance with General Condition 4. The announcement of this investigation was posted on Ofcom's Competition and Consumer Enforcement Bulletin on its website.18

2.10 On 25 March 2011 Ofcom sent TalkTalk a first information request under section 135 of the Act, seeking clarification of TalkTalk’s location information processes. This covered issues relating to the January incident, the migration of customer information from TalkTalk’s previous customer relationship management (“CRM”) database ([referred to in this non-confidential document as Database 4]) to its current CRM database ([referred to here as Database 1]), TalkTalk’s audit of its [Database 1] database (including comparing its customers’ address details against those held on the emergency services database that BT uses to pass location information to Emergency Organisations (“ESDB”)), discrepancies in TalkTalk customer data and current TalkTalk processes.

2.11 TalkTalk wrote to Ofcom on 29 March setting out that it was undertaking a full audit of the [Database 1] database, with the intention of bringing it into compliance with General Condition 4. Ofcom met with TalkTalk on 31 March to discuss this letter in more detail.

2.12 TalkTalk provided a response to Ofcom’s request for information on 1 April 2011 and Ofcom sent TalkTalk a further letter on 4 April 2011, asking TalkTalk to provide further clarification of some of its answers. TalkTalk responded to this letter on 6 April 2011.

2.13 Ofcom met with TalkTalk on 8 April and 14 April 2011 to discuss TalkTalk’s progress on its audit of the [Database 1] database.

TalkTalk’s databases

2.14 TalkTalk has the following CRM databases which are relevant to our investigation:

(a) [Database 1] is TalkTalk’s current CRM database for retail customers (excluding Pipex customers);

(b) [Database 2] is TalkTalk’s current CRM database for Pipex customers;

(c) [Database 3] is TalkTalk’s current CRM database for Opal (sometimes called TalkTalk Business) business and reseller customers; and

(d) TalkTalk’s legacy CRM databases, which are no longer used by TalkTalk (including [Database 4], which was the CRM system for TalkTalk and AOL retail customers but not for Tiscali or Pipex customers). Customers previously on the [Database 4] database have now all been migrated to [Database 1] and the [Database 4] database has been decommissioned.

2.15 TalkTalk’s CRM databases provide customer data to the relevant CHA, which in most cases will be BT, with the exception of the legacy Bulldog customers.

18 http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement/competition-bulletins/open-cases/all-open-cases/cw_01068/

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement/competition-bulletins/open-cases/all-open-cases/cw_01068/�

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/enforcement/competition-bulletins/open-cases/all-open-cases/cw_01068/�


11

2.16 Where it is BT who is acting as the CHA, TalkTalk passes on changes and updates to BT’s ESDB via BT’s dedicated interface, which is called Calypso. When a TalkTalk customer dials 999 or 112, BT’s computer interface interrogates the ESDB, which provides Caller Location Information to the emergency services.

2.17 BT’s ESDB therefore relies on receiving accurate Caller Location Information from TalkTalk (and every other Communications Provider who uses BT as the CHA) but does not itself verify the accuracy of the location information. It is therefore essential for TalkTalk to ensure that its Caller Location Information is accurately captured in [Database 1] and other CRM systems and that this information is passed on correctly to the ESDB.

2.18 C&W operates a database in respect of its functions as CHA, which also relies on receiving accurate Caller Location Information from Communications Providers. The requirement for Communications Providers to provide accurate Caller Location Information to C&W is therefore identical to that where the Communications Provider is using BT as the CHA.


12

Section 3

3 General Condition 4.2 Communications Provider

3.1 General Condition 4.2 imposes obligations as regards “Caller Location Information” on “Communications Providers”. Ofcom considers that TalkTalk is a Communications Provider for the purposes of General Condition 4.2 (set out in full at paragraph 1.7).

3.2 Caller Location Information is defined in General Condition 4.3(a) as any data or

information processed in an Electronic Communications Network indicating the geographic position of the terminal equipment of a person initiating a call.

3.3 Communications Providers for the purposes of General Condition 4.2 are defined in General Condition 4.3(b)(ii) as:

"a person who provides a Public Telephone Network".

3.4 A Public Telephone Network is defined in Part 1 of the General Conditions which states:

"Public Telephone Network" means an Electronic Communications Network which is used to provide Publicly Available Telephone Services; it supports the transfer between Network Termination Points of speech communications, and also other forms of communication, such as facsimile and data".

3.5 "Electronic Communications Network” is defined as:

“(a) a transmission system for the conveyance, by the use of electrical, magnetic or electro-magnetic energy, of Signals of any description; and

(b) such of the following as are used, by the person providing the system and in association with it, for the conveyance of the Signals –

(i) apparatus comprised in the system;

(ii) apparatus used for the switching or routing of the Signals; and

(iii) software and stored data.”

3.6 “Signals” are defined as including:

“(a) anything comprising speech, music, sounds, visual images or communications or data of any description; and (b) signals serving for the impartation of anything between persons, between a person and a thing or between things, or for the actuation or control of any apparatus”.

3.7 A “Publicly Available Telephone Service” is defined as:


13

“a service available to the public for originating and receiving national and international calls and access to Emergency Organisations through a number or numbers in a national or international telephone numbering plan, and in addition may, where relevant, include one or more of the following services: the provision of operator assistance services, Directory Enquiry Facilities, Directories, provision of Public Pay Telephones, provision of service under special terms, provision of specific facilities for End Users with disabilities or with special social needs and/or the provision of non-geographic services”.

3.8 “Network Termination Point” is defined as:

“the physical point at which a Subscriber19

3.9 TalkTalk states on its website that it operates two interconnected networks: a traditional legacy voice network and a Next Generation Network. The Next Generation Network underpins the TalkTalk Group’s voice and broadband services. TalkTalk states that it maintains the legacy voice network in order to interconnect with BT’s public switched telephone network. TalkTalk provides telephone services to its retail and business customers as well as wholesale services to other Communications Providers. Its network provides customers connected to the network the ability to make and receive telephone calls. TalkTalk’s network is interconnected with other Communication Providers’ networks in order that TalkTalk’s customers may make and receive national and international calls to and from other Communications Providers’ customers.

is provided with access to a Public Electronic Communications Network and, where it concerns Electronic Communications Networks involving switching or routing, that physical point is identified by means of a specific network address, which may be linked to the Telephone Number or name of a Subscriber. A Network Termination Point provided at a fixed position on Served Premises shall be within an item of Network Termination and Testing Apparatus”.

3.10 Ofcom considers that:

(a) TalkTalk provides an Electronic Communications Network; that is a transmission system for the conveyance, by the use of electrical, magnetic or electro-magnetic energy, of signals e.g. comprising speech and data. The system also utilises for the conveyance of those signals: apparatus comprised in the system; used for the switching or routing of the signals; and software and stored data;

(b) the Electronic Communications Network provided by TalkTalk is also used to provide Publicly Available Telephone Services. This is because TalkTalk provides a service available to the public for making and receiving national and international calls and accessing the emergency services through a national or international telephone number on a numbering plan; and

19 A “Subscriber” is defined in the General Conditions as “any person who is party to a contract with a provider of Public Electronic Communications Services for the supply of such services”. In turn, “Public Electronic Communications Services” is defined as “any Electronic Communications Service that is provided so as to be available for use by members of the public” and an “Electronic Communications Service” (to the extent relevant to this Notification) is “any service consisting in, or having as its principal feature, the conveyance by means of an Electronic Communications Network of Signals”.


14

(c) the Electronic Communications Network provided by TalkTalk supports the transfer between Network Termination Points (the point at which TalkTalk’s customers connect to its network) of speech communications, and also other forms of communication, such as facsimile and data.

3.11 Ofcom therefore considers that TalkTalk provides a Public Telephone Network; an Electronic Communications Network which is used to provide Publicly Available Telephone Services supporting the transfer between Network Termination Points of speech communications; and also other forms of communication, such as facsimile and data. TalkTalk is therefore a Communications Provider for the purposes of General Condition 4.2.

How Caller Location Information works in practice

3.12 All Communications Providers in the UK are required to ensure that End Users can access Emergency Organisations (defined in the General Conditions as, “in respect of any locality: the relevant public police, fire, ambulance and coastguard services for that locality; and any other organisation, as directed from time to time by the Director as providing a vital service relating to the safety of life in emergencies”) by using the emergency call numbers “112” and “999” at no charge. Communication Providers deal with this requirement by contracting with a CHA.

3.13 In the UK, two companies, BT and C&W, act as CHAs for the majority of networks.20

3.14 The handling of an emergency call by a CHA involves the following phases:

Each CHA has a database which contains the name and address data relating to all telephone numbers of the Communications Providers which contract with the CHA. It is the Communications Provider’s responsibility to keep this information up to date.

(a) connection of the caller to the CHA’s emergency operator (i.e. its call centre) via the 999/112 number; the caller’s full national phone number (or calling line identification) and corresponding name and address data from the CHA’s emergency services database should automatically display on the operator’s screen, even if the caller has withheld their number;

(b) the CHA’s emergency operator will confirm, or seek to confirm, from the 999/112

caller which Emergency Organisation it requires and its telephone number before connecting a call to the relevant Emergency Organisation;

(c) selection by the CHA’s emergency operator of the required emergency service’s

control room based on the location of the caller showing on the screen; if no location is showing, the CHA emergency operator requests this information from the caller;

(d) onward connection of the caller to the emergency service’s control room in the

relevant area; (e) the CHA’s emergency operator will then continue to listen in to the call to ensure

that connection has been established with the appropriate emergency service’s control room and provide further assistance to the caller or Emergency Organisation if required; and

20 The exceptions being Global Crossing, which acts as a CHA on behalf of the railway industry, and Kingston Communications which is the CHA for its own customers in the Hull area.


15

(f) where systems allow, the automatic provision of Caller Location Information to the Emergency Organisation’s control room computers based on the Caller Location Information on the CHA’s emergency service’s database.

3.15 It is essential therefore that a database exists which holds the End User location

information which relates to the calling line identification. Further, it also follows that this database must contain up to date data from the Communications Providers who contract with the CHAs. This requirement is found in the Universal Service Directive as implemented in General Condition 4.2.

3.16 As a Communications Provider, TalkTalk is required under General Condition 4.2 to make Caller Location Information available to Emergency Organisations, to the extent technically feasible.

3.17 TalkTalk uses BT as its emergency CHA (with the exception of the legacy Bulldog customers). BT relies on data on its ESDB to provide Caller Location Information to the Emergency Organisation’s control room. However, under the “Code of Practice for the Public Emergency Call Service (PECS) between Communications Providers and the Emergency Services”21

3.18 When TalkTalk is providing telephony services using LLU it is TalkTalk’s responsibility for ensuring that location information is provided to the emergency services in compliance with General Condition 4.2. When TalkTalk is providing telephony services without taking over the line (i.e. without using LLU), the line remains the responsibility of BT and therefore, in effect, it is BT that provides the location information for the purposes of General Condition 4.2.

, it is recognised that the CHAs do not have responsibility for ensuring Caller Location Information is accurate; this is the responsibility of the Communications Providers under General Condition 4.2.

21 An industry code which deals with the method of handling 999/112 public emergency telephone calls between CHAs and emergency organisations in the UK.


16

Section 4

4 Information gathered 4.1 This section sets out the information gathered by Ofcom.

Information supplied by TalkTalk

4.2 As set out in section 2 above, TalkTalk provided relevant information to Ofcom at meetings held at Ofcom's offices on 4 March 2011, 31 March 2011, 8 April 2011 and 14 April 2011 and in written responses to informal questions on 10 March and 18 March 2011. On 1 April 2011, TalkTalk responded to a formal request for information and confirmed its informal responses. TalkTalk provided subsequent clarifications to its formal response on 6 April 2011.

Issues with TalkTalk’s Caller Location Information

4.3 TalkTalk started work on a project to identify potential errors and inconsistencies in the Caller Location Information contained in the ESDB prior to the January incident. This involved an audit of customer records held on [Database 1], which was carried out between June 2010 and December 2010 (the “June 2010 Audit”). At the time that the June 2010 Audit was carried out, [Database 1] contained customer records for TalkTalk and AOL customers only.

4.4 The June 2010 Audit identified [ ] customer records that TalkTalk has characterised as only requiring improvement of address data and [ ] customer address records which did not provide a clear address, including [ ] customer records which needed changes to the postcode.

4.5 In March 2011, TalkTalk requested BT to provide details of any ESDB entries which contained an incomplete address, as was the case in the January incident.

4.6 BT identified [ ] records which contained incomplete addresses on the ESDB.

4.7 We understand that there are approximately [ ] customer records which overlap between the [ ] records identified in the June 2010 Audit and those identified by BT.

4.8 By the end of March 2011, it was therefore clear that over [ ] customer records contained potentially inaccurate Caller Location Information.

Problems arising from the migration of [Database 4] to [Database 1]

4.9 As noted above at paragraph 2.14(d), TalkTalk has migrated customer records from its legacy [Database 4] database to its new [Database 1] database. The legacy [Database 4] database has now been decommissioned.

4.10 TalkTalk’s legacy [Database 4] database contained address information and the installation postcode for each customer. In a number of cases there was a discrepancy between the billing address information and the installation postcode held on [Database 4]. We asked TalkTalk for details of the processes for ensuring that the address held on [Database 4] and therefore the address that was passed on to the ESDB was the correct installation address for a customer rather than a billing address for the customer. TalkTalk stated that it was unable to provide us with these


17

details as [Database 4] had been decommissioned over [ ] months prior to our investigation.

4.11 The audit work that TalkTalk has conducted since June 2010 and since this investigation began has indicated that, where a discrepancy existed between the full address fields and the installation postcode field on [Database 4], there was a risk that incorrect Caller Location Information may have been transferred to either the ESDB or to [Database 1] when the records were migrated from [Database 4].

4.12 [ ] This incomplete Caller Location Information was, in certain circumstances, then uploaded to the ESDB overwriting the previously held correct Caller Location Information. This problem was the cause of the incorrect Caller Location Information in the January incident.

4.13 The errors in installation address data arising from the migration from [Database 4] to [Database 1] which were then passed on to the ESDB provide reasonable grounds for believing that there has been, and continues to be, a contravention of General Condition 4.2.

Errors on the [Database 1] database identified in the June 2010 Audit

4.14 TalkTalk has provided Ofcom with a document which defines the scope, strategy and approach of the June 2010 Audit. The document outlines potential data inconsistencies and, in particular, those errors which could result in incorrect Caller Location Information being provided to the ESDB. The document sets out methods of correcting the inconsistencies identified, by:

(a) validating the data held on the ESDB using address verification tools such as Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File and Experian’s QAS tool;

(b) cross-referencing addresses against the information held on TalkTalk’s network and CRM databases; and

(c) where necessary, manually verifying the information (e.g. by calling customers).

4.15 It is clear from this document that TalkTalk had a process defined to remedy Caller Location Information discrepancies in the ESDB. Despite this, no remedial action was taken prior to the January incident in respect of the [ ] customer records which did not provide a clear address, nor was any action taken until after we started our investigation in March 2011. We have asked TalkTalk why this was the case and been advised that the company was dealing with a number of competing demands at the time. We have no reason to believe that it was not technically feasible for TalkTalk to take steps to remedy the inaccuracies identified by the June 2010 Audit.

4.16 The errors contained on the [Database 1] database and passed on to the ESDB provide reasonable grounds for believing that there has been a contravention of General Condition 4.2. To the extent that such records have not been remedied as at the date of this Notification, Ofcom takes the view that it has reasonable grounds for believing that there is an ongoing contravention of General Condition 4.2.

Customers not included in the June 2010 Audit

4.17 As set out in paragraph 1.11 above, TalkTalk operates a number of brands. The June 2010 Audit related to TalkTalk and AOL customers only and therefore excluded TalkTalk’s other customers. TalkTalk has informed us that, since the launch of


18

Ofcom’s investigation, it has started the process of conducting an audit and rectification process which will cover these customers in addition to TalkTalk and AOL customers. It should be noted that the legacy Bulldog customers have not, to date, been included in these arrangements. Further detail on this audit is set out below.

Tiscali customers

4.18 Tiscali customers were not included in the June 2010 Audit, as they had not been migrated over to [Database 1] at the time. Tiscali customers were subsequently migrated over to [Database 1] during the latter half of 2010 and early 2011. We understand that these customers have now been migrated to [Database 1] and will now undergo TalkTalk’s audit process.

Pipex customers

4.19 TalkTalk has approximately [ ] Pipex customers (including the legacy Bulldog customers). These customers were not included in the June 2010 Audit. Unlike the former Tiscali customers, Pipex customers have not yet been migrated to [Database 1]. Any audit intended to capture all customers will therefore need to audit the [Database 2] CRM system as well as [Database 1].

Opal customers

4.20 We understand that Opal (now known as TalkTalk Business) has approximately [ ] business customers using MPF22

TalkTalk’s 2011 Audit

. These customers were not included in the June 2010 Audit. Opal customers have not been migrated to [Database 1].

4.21 TalkTalk has informed us that, subsequent to Ofcom opening its investigation into TalkTalk’s compliance with General Condition 4, it has commenced a further audit of its CRM systems. The audit aims to ensure that the ESDB holds the correct installation addresses of all of its customers23

4.22 The first phase involves a complete audit of TalkTalk customer data for customers under the TalkTalk and AOL brands (both on [Database 1]). The second phase will capture all former Tiscali customers (on [Database 1]), Pipex customers, with the exception of the legacy Bulldog customers (on [Database 2]) and Opal business and reseller customers (on [Database 3]).

(excluding the legacy Bulldog customers). It is taking place in two phases, which are being run concurrently.

4.23 The audit involves:

(a) comparing the Caller Location Information held on the ESDB with the Caller Location Information held on TalkTalk’s network systems and the customer records held on its CRM databases;

(b) comparing records with an independent data source obtained from Openreach and identifying any discrepancies;

22 Information current as of 28 February 2011. 23 Letter from Rickard Granberg to Neil Buckley, dated 29 March 2011.


19

(c) undertaking a further verification exercise, to identify the correct data which should be included in greater detail than has previously been undertaken;

(d) where these steps are insufficient to provide a conclusive identification of the correct data, TalkTalk will undertake manual verification of details, for example by phoning the customer; and

(e) if manual verification does not result in robust customer records, TalkTalk will implement a system which enables it to route outgoing calls from the customer to a call centre and obtain Caller Location Information from the caller.

Errors held on the databases subject to the 2011 Audit

4.24 TalkTalk has informed us that the 2011 Audit has identified a further [ ] customer records that require improvement of address data. Of these, [ ] records remained to be remedied as at 8 April 201124

4.25 The steps that TalkTalk is taking in the course of the 2011 Audit are similar to the steps taken during the June 2010 Audit and the remedies required are the same as or similar to the remedies identified as a result of the June 2010 Audit. We have no reason to consider that it is not technically feasible for TalkTalk to remedy the errors in its Caller Location Information or that it has not previously been technically feasible for TalkTalk to identify and remedy those errors.

. On 11 April, TalkTalk sent an e-mail to Ofcom indicating that it would take between four and five weeks to complete all customer records. This timeframe does not include the legacy Bulldog customers.

4.26 The errors contained on TalkTalk’s databases other than [Database 1] and passed on to the ESDB provide reasonable grounds for believing that there has been a contravention of General Condition 4.2. To the extent that such records have not been remedied as at the date of this Notification, Ofcom takes the view that it has reasonable grounds for believing that there is an ongoing contravention of General Condition 4.2.

Conclusion

4.27 TalkTalk has provided information to Ofcom about its June 2010 Audit of customer data. We consider that this audit was insufficient in two key respects:

(a) it did not capture all necessary Caller Location Information, being limited to those customers on [Database 1] at that time and excluding former Tiscali customers, Pipex customers and Opal customers;

(b) the discrepancies identified were not remedied until this investigation was launched, even though TalkTalk was aware of a large number of errors that would potentially prevent the emergency services from locating a caller who was unable to communicate their address. As stated earlier, we have no reason to believe that it was not technically feasible for TalkTalk to correct the inaccuracies that it had identified.

4.28 Given the information provided to us by TalkTalk, as set out above, Ofcom considers there are reasonable grounds for believing that TalkTalk has contravened, and is in contravention of, General Condition 4.2.

24 Meeting between Ofcom and TalkTalk, dated 8 April 2011.


20

4.29 Ofcom considers that the action being undertaken by TalkTalk should be sufficient to remedy the contravention of General Condition 4.2, provided that it captures all TalkTalk customers and any customer record which is found to be inaccurate is remedied without delay. We note that TalkTalk has cooperated fully with Ofcom’s investigation. However, Ofcom remains concerned that:

(a) the further action proposed by TalkTalk has not yet been completed and no definite completion date has been proposed by TalkTalk; as at 14 April 2011, approximately [ ] records remained to be updated; and

(b) the further action being undertaken by TalkTalk does not capture the entirety of TalkTalk’s customer base. In particular, it does not include ensuring that location information for the legacy Bulldog customers is correct.

4.30 Ofcom considers that, until the audit being undertaken by TalkTalk is completed, there remains a real risk of incorrect Caller Location Information being provided to Emergency Organisations.

4.31 Given the above information, Ofcom considers there are reasonable grounds for believing that TalkTalk is contravening General Condition 4.2.

4.32 Ofcom considers that the case is an urgent case as the contravention of General Condition 4.2 has resulted in or creates an immediate risk of a serious threat to the safety of the public, to public health or to national security.

4.33 Ofcom is therefore giving TalkTalk a Notification under section 94 and section 98 of the Act.


21

Section 5

5 Action required from TalkTalk Contravention of General Condition 4.2

5.1 On the basis of the evidence and reasoning set out in this Explanatory Statement, Ofcom hereby determines that there are reasonable grounds for believing that TalkTalk has contravened and is contravening General Condition 4 ("Emergency Call Numbers") within the meaning of section 94 of the Act. Specifically TalkTalk has failed to ensure that Caller Location Information is made available to the Emergency Organisations, to the extent technically feasible, in compliance with General Condition 4.2.

5.2 Further, Ofcom considers that it has reasonable grounds for suspecting that this is an urgent case for the purposes of section 98 of the Act. This is because TalkTalk’s continued contravention of General Condition 4.2 creates an immediate risk of a serious threat to the safety of the public, to public health or to national security. This risk includes that Emergency Organisations may not be able to dispatch their services to an individual’s correct address as efficiently as possible in potentially life-threatening circumstances.

Action required from TalkTalk

5.3 TalkTalk is required to comply with the requirements of General Condition 4.2 and remedy the consequences of contravention of General Condition 4.2 as set out in this Notification and Explanatory Statement as soon as is practicable and in any case by 10 May 2011. This timeframe has been calculated on the basis that, on 11 April 2011, TalkTalk advised us that it would need another four to five weeks to remedy the inaccuracies in its customer records, excluding the legacy Bulldog customers. The date of 10 May 2011 is just over four weeks from the date of 11 April 2011, and three weeks from the date of this Notification. Ofcom has no reason to believe that it would not be technically feasible for TalkTalk to remedy all the inaccuracies in its customer records (including the legacy Bulldog customers).

5.4 Specifically, the steps Ofcom would expect TalkTalk to take include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) to complete the audit that it is currently undertaking (including the appropriate implementation of any findings and recommendations that arise from that process) to ensure:

(i) that all of the Caller Location Information that TalkTalk has recorded in relation to each of its customers reflects, to the extent technically feasible, the correct location at which TalkTalk’s services are being provided to that customer; and

(ii) to the extent technically feasible, that there are no inconsistencies between Caller Location Information held by or on behalf of TalkTalk and the Caller Location Information made available to the Emergency Organisations handling calls to the emergency call numbers “112” and “999”;


22

(b) to ensure that its arrangements for recording, storing and updating all Caller Location Information in the future (whether for existing customers or new customers) enable TalkTalk to comply with its obligations under General Condition 4.2.

5.5 From the date of this Notification until such time as Ofcom determines, TalkTalk is required to provide Ofcom with weekly updates on the progress and results of its audit to verify the accuracy of the Caller Location Information that it holds (or which is held on its behalf) and the Caller Location Information available to the Emergency Organisations handling calls to the emergency call numbers “112 and “999”. Such weekly reports should also include any progress made in ensuring that its systems and processes sufficiently robust for ensuring the accuracy of Caller Location Information for all customers (existing and new) moving forward.

5.6 If TalkTalk does not comply with General Condition 4.2 and/or fails to remedy the consequences of contravention of General Condition 4.2 as set out in the Notification and Explanatory Statement, Ofcom may issue an enforcement notification under section 95 of the Act and/or may impose a penalty on TalkTalk under section 96 of the Act.

5.7 TalkTalk has until the deadline (5 pm on 10 May 2011) to make representations to Ofcom about the matters set out in this Notification and the accompanying Explanatory Statement.

notification section 94 gc4.2 talktalk · notification to talktalk telecom group plc of...

Documents