Digitization and Administration Minister Karianne Tung (Ap) sent a letter to the Storting on Wednesday, in which she asked to be given an account of the Telenor problems which led to the emergency numbers being down for several hours. The emergency numbers and the police number 02800 did not work as normal from around 10.25 a.m. to around 4.40 p.m. on Wednesday. In addition, there was a long connection time for normal calls during the same period. Tung was not gracious in his judgment of the telecom operator’s handling of the case. – This is completely unacceptable, she asserts. She says that the preliminary reports she has received from the professional authorities and the emergency services indicate that the incident has not resulted in loss of life. Karianne Oldernes Tung explains the emergency number error. Photo: Hanna Johre / Hanna Johre Calling in Telenor top on the carpet – The emergency numbers must work. There shall be no interruption in these services. It is crucial that people can reach the police, fire and health when they need it, Tung asserted from the podium. – It is unacceptable that what should be completely ordinary maintenance work triggers serious errors that put life and health at risk. I expect Telenor to have systems that prevent such errors from happening, she added. The minister for digitization further says that she has called Telenor director Birgitte Engebretsen on the carpet, to clarify the situation and the course of events on Wednesday. Tung expects Telenor to have systems that prevent such errors from occurring. – Today, Telenor is responsible for making all emergency calls to health, fire and police, regardless of whether you have a mobile subscription with Telenor, Telia or Ice, says Tung. All the incidents are due to maintenance. Telenor, for its part, has previously stated that preliminary investigations show that the error may have been due to a power failure, or a power cut in one of their switchboards, which has most likely taken a battery backup with it. – Telenor reported to the authorities during yesterday that all planned maintenance work at Telenor was stopped until the situation was clarified. As always in such incidents, the ministry was in constant contact with the National Communications Authority, which increased preparedness and initiated crisis follow-up, says Tung. This is the fourth time since the summer that the emergency numbers have been out of service in connection with maintenance. The previous outcomes occurred on 29 August, 16 September and 17 October this year. Several advocated that there should be more suppliers who can be on standby should such errors occur. Including Sylvi Listhaug (FrP) and Trond Helleland (H). – It is frightening that all four incidents have occurred due to maintenance, says Trond Helleland (H) from the podium. – It indicates poor routines and sloppiness, he adds. Trond Helleland (H) The National Communications Authority already started on 29 August, the same day that the first incident took place – an inspection of Telenor. – Already yesterday morning, the National Communications Authority decided to incorporate the follow-up of yesterday’s incident into their ongoing supervision of Telenor, she says. She expects the National Communications Authority to now work quickly, efficiently and thoroughly with the inspection report. – I would like to conclude by emphasizing that yesterday’s incident shows how dependent we are on the mobile network working, and how vulnerable we are when it does not. Published 14.11.2024, at 16.46 Updated 14.11.2024, at 17.09
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