Caithness power cut “a shot across the bows” for telecoms resilience – Carmichael

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today warned that the power cut in Caithness and Orkney last year, in which internet and mobile signal was lost across the affected area, was “a shot across the bows” for future telecoms resilience. Speaking during Cabinet Office questions yesterday in Parliament, Mr Carmichael highlighted past promises about resilience for replacement connections after copper wire landlines were withdrawn.

Copper wire systems (which are being withdrawn as outdated technology) remain functional in power outages, whereas newer systems rely on the power grid.

The responding minister undertook to look into the issues and reiterated an agreement to meet with Mr Carmichael in the coming weeks.

Speaking in the House, Mr Carmichael said:

“I can tell the Minister that the promises made by telecoms companies about the withdrawal of copper landlines have not been kept. A recent power outage that covered both Caithness and Orkney left my constituents without any landline connectivity or mobile connectivity, as there was no power to the mobile masts. As well as talking to BT, will the Minister speak to the mobile phone operators and find out why there are not doing what they promised they would do?”

Responding for the government, the Security Minister Dan Jarvis MP said:

“Yes, I will. I am looking forward to meeting the right hon. Gentleman soon to discuss these things. It is important to say that we worked closely with mobile phone operators and National Grid Electricity Distribution to get more than 900 engineers out and about reconnecting homes in the south-west, but I have heard the right hon. Gentleman’s points and I look forward to discussing them with him soon.”

Reacting after the exchange, Mr Carmichael said:

“There are serious concerns about the consequences of withdrawing copper landlines without proper resilience in place for their replacement. The last thing we need is to discover too late that the resilience we expect is not the resilience we get when disruption happens. The power cut last year was a shot across the bows so we need answers to these questions now – I shall be raising these points when I meet with the minister in the coming weeks.”