Investigation over alleged breach of rules to protect vulnerable people with modern landlines

Wednesday, 5 April 2023

Volunteer firefighters in Te Karaka, Gisborne, had to move their small town to higher ground during Cyclone Gabrielle, despite communication across the region going down

Modern technology landlines require power at the source to work, whereas copper line phones use power at the exchange.
A code overseen by the Commerce Commission provides protection for people who register as vulnerable, to help them out in the event of a power cut.
The commission is investigating whether companies have been meeting their obligations under the code.

Telecommunications companies are under investigation for potential breaches of a code designed to protect vulnerable people who rely on emergency services.

The 111 Contact Code ensures people with a modern landline phone have a back-up during power cuts in their home, so they can call for help if they need to.

For people who register as vulnerable – those with chronic illnesses or disabilities, for example – the code requires their telecommunications provider to give them a back-up such as a mobile phone or a battery.

But the Commerce Commission, which regulates the code, says it is investigating “a number of providers in relation to non-compliance with the 111 Contact Code”.

NZ Telecommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen.

* Why some people didn't get emergency text alerts during Cyclone Gabrielle

* Mobile and internet outages widespread as cellphone towers battered by Cyclone Gabrielle

The allegations include “failing to display information about the code to consumers as required”.

Grey Power Federation New Zealand president Jan Pentecost, left, and husband Tony Pentecost have had problems with their phone system in rural North Canterbury.

The investigation came as news to the New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (NZTCF), which represents the industry, with its chief executive Paul Brislen saying he was surprised to hear about it from Stuff.

Obligations to vulnerable customers are taken seriously by the industry, Brislen said.

A number of codes – some overseen by the commission, some by the industry itself – overlap in this area, as the country moves away from a copper wire landline network.

Modern landlines require a power source at the consumer end, meaning they will not work in a power cut without an independent power source.

“I just think we just need to do a better job, all of us – the commission and industry – of working together to make sure nobody falls through those cracks, because as it stands at the moment, you've just told me there's an investigation underway; I had no idea. So that to me feels like a failing,” Brislen said.

The investigation comes as an Official Information Act request has revealed there are 573 people registered as vulnerable – a figure advocates for consumers and the elderly described as “surprising”.

“One of our issues with the code is that it relies on customers identifying themselves as vulnerable and ‘applying’ to be considered vulnerable,” a Consumer NZ spokesperson said.

“We wanted retailers to have to take steps to identify potentially vulnerable consumers but this isn’t required. Given that only a few hundred people have done this, it could indicate that relying on customers to identify themselves as vulnerable isn’t working.”

Crews work to restore power to Napier in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Grey Power’s national federation president, Jan Pentecost, said she was “surprised and very concerned” there were only 573 people registered.

“But when you look at the hurdles that you have to go through to actually become [registered as] a vulnerable person, I’m not surprised,” says Pentecost. “I honestly wonder how many older people even know about it.”

The 111 Contact Code came into force in February 2021 to help vulnerable people whose home phone technology runs off technology such as fibre or fixed wireless – those services require either mains or back-up battery power to make calls.

Older copper-line phones receive the small amounts of power they need to operate from phone exchanges.

Customers who don’t have an alternative way to contact 111 in a power cut (for example they don’t have a mobile phone) can apply for help if they are at particular risk for health, security or disability reasons.

Of those who have registered as vulnerable, 490 have been provided with mobile phones, and 81 have been given a battery back-up (some customers have both), the commission said.

During Cyclone Gabrielle, both landlines and mobile phones failed in some parts of the country because of wide scale destruction, including power failures at cellphone towers.

The commission said it had not heard of particular issues for vulnerable customers during the cyclone, but it would be something it would look at during an upcoming review of the 111 Contact Code, scheduled for later this year.

“We anticipate the ability of the code to protect vulnerable consumers during extreme weather events may be raised in the upcoming review of the code and intend to seek submissions from providers and vulnerable customers to understand their views,” a spokesperson for the commission said.

Pentecost said she was very concerned about elderly people either not knowing about the issue with landlines in a power cut, or not registering as vulnerable because it’s too much hassle.

And yet, not being able to get help in an emergency could mean the difference between life and death.

As a resident of rural North Canterbury, in an area that has patchy cellphone coverage, Pentecost and her husband, who has health issues, have recently been through a fight with their telecommunications provider, after being put on fibre, she says.

“We had very little phone connection, it was horrific, and in the end they finally agreed that we couldn’t be on fibre … and now they’ve put us back on copper,” Pentecost said.

“The stress for us was incredible because at times we had no way of calling an emergency number if we had to – I would have had to hop in the car and go down the road.”

Brislen, of the TCF, expected the number of people registered as vulnerable to grow.

It was an important area for providers to look at, and something to work through as telecommunications came to be seen as an essential service.

“It’s been an interesting year of learning for a lot of Government agencies and a lot of people in the country,” Brislen said.

“I think the cyclone exacerbated that – suddenly everybody went, ‘Hang on, I actually rely on this. I can get by without power for three days, but I cannot get by without telecommunications for three days’. Unfortunately it’s very interlinked.”

Being registered as vulnerable was never a guarantee of connectivity.

“Whether it’s a cyclone or an earthquake or a volcano, you have to be prepared for a period of time where you will be without communication as well as without water or without electricity.”

National’s digital economy and communications spokesperson Melissa Lee has been asking questions about the 111 Contact Code and welcomed the upcoming review, particularly in light of the cyclone and other disruptive weather events.

“It’s a case of what different methods can we actually utilise in a situation where we rely heavily on technology and that technology relies on power supply – how do we manage that?” Lee said.