Compliance programme into access to emergency services

Phones and broadband Telecoms infrastructure Enforcement

Published: 31 October 2025

Last updated: 8 June 2026

Closed

Programme into

Compliance with obligations under the General Conditions concerning emergency calls

Case opened

31 October 2025

Case closed

8 June 2026

Summary

This compliance programme assessed whether regulated providers are meeting important obligations concerning emergency calls.

The General Conditions set by Ofcom require regulated providers to take all necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted access to emergency organisations as part of any voice services offered, and to make accurate and reliable caller location information available to emergency organisations for all 999 and 112 calls where technically feasible.

Relevant legal provision(s)

General Conditions A3.2(b), A3.5 and A3.6 of the General Conditions of Entitlement

Closing update - 8 June 2026

Ofcom is today closing its enforcement programme into compliance with obligations under the General Conditions concerning emergency calls. We are publishing a further letter to industry setting out our findings and the measures we expect providers to take to support compliance with their regulatory obligations.

After analysing information from a range of providers, we have not identified specific issues that warrant further formal enforcement action at this time. However, we noted that providers are taking a range of approaches to managing emergency calls and we have identified a number of measures that providers should take to support compliance with their regulatory obligations to take all necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted access to emergency organisations. These measures are set out in our letter to industry.

We expect providers to implement these measures where it is appropriate and proportionate to do so. It is essential that providers continue to prioritise compliance with their obligations given the critical role that communications networks and services play in facilitating access to the emergency services and the potentially life-threatening consequences of failures to connect calls.

We will continue to monitor compliance and engage with providers on this topic and remain prepared to take firm enforcement action where serious compliance concerns arise.

Ofcom has opened an own-initiative compliance programme to assess whether regulated providers (“providers”) are meeting a number of their obligations concerning emergency calls. People’s ability to contact and access the support of the emergency services, by calling the emergency call numbers 999 or 112, is a critically important function of a communications network.

The General Conditions of Entitlement set by Ofcom require all necessary measures to be taken to ensure that calls can be made to emergency organisations and require that the caller’s location information is provided for all calls to emergency numbers, wherever possible.

We have issued an open letter reminding providers of these regulatory obligations concerning access to emergency organisations and the availability of caller location information.

Regulatory framework

Under General Condition A3.2(b) regulated providers are required to take all necessary measures to ensure uninterrupted access to emergency organisations as part of any voice communications service it offers.

General Condition A3.5 requires that providers, to the extent technically feasible, make accurate and reliable caller location information available for all calls to the emergency call numbers 112 and 999 at no charge to end-users and the emergency organisations handling those calls, at the time the call is answered by those organisations.

General Condition A3.6 provides specific requirements (a-d) that providers must comply with, where relevant to the communications services it offers, in order to make accurate and reliable caller location information available to emergency organisations.