The regulator’s long-awaited update takes a preventative approach to service disruption, outlining its expectations for battery backup in fixed and mobile networks
Ofcom has taken nearly two years to update its network resilience guidance
On 16 June 2026, Ofcom updated its network and service resilience guidance, revising its original guidance for operators published in September 2024. While the regulator’s previous guidance provided operators with greater clarity on how they can reduce the risk of network outages, it gave limited detail on Ofcom’s expectations for the level of battery backup operators should have for mobile radio access network (RAN) sites. The updated guidance has, almost two years after it was initially expected, detailed Ofcom’s expectations for mobile RAN battery backup levels. It also focuses on reducing single points of failure in network design and ensuring key infrastructure points have automatic failover functionalities. According to Ofcom, hardware failures and winter storms have been some of the most common causes of outages. Despite the near two-year wait for further guidance on mobile RAN resilience, Ofcom has said it may yet determine that additional measures are needed in this area in the future after further analysis.
Operators have been recommended to ensure at least four hours of battery backup for active street cabinets
Ofcom has called on operators to strengthen network resilience by ensuring that active street cabinet sites have four hours of power backup at the point of installation. This requirement aligns with Ofgem’s outage data, which suggests that 93% of outages are less than four hours long and 90% are under three hours. Operators are expected to increase the level of backup duration in areas that suffer longer outages more frequently. Similarly, Ofcom suggests that operators have stronger backup options at larger sites serving more customers, such as having permanent backup electricity generators on site. Core network sites are expected to be equipped with generators and battery backup, and should be able to survive power loss for at least five days. The updated guidance for mobile RAN sites does not recommend a specific amount of power backup. Instead, Ofcom emphasises the need for operators to eliminate key dependency losses in the access network, such as mains power outages for a “significant period of time”, as customers rely on this network to contact emergency services.
Ofcom is one of few regulators to publish new guidance that includes provisions on battery backup
Ofcom’s updated guidance is notable when compared internationally due to its preventative approach to network resilience. It focuses on ensuring the immediate continuity of services in the event of an outage, while certain other policymakers appear to have prioritised reconnecting people following a loss of service. Despite recent major network outages, most notably the Iberian Peninsula blackout in April 2025, policymakers in Portugal and Spain have not responded with new guidance or requirements for battery backup as Ofcom has. The Spanish Government proposed new policies that would require operators to audit their network assets, establish action plans for mitigating different types of outages and impose stricter incident reporting rules. However, none of these proposals have yet been taken forward via legislation. The Portuguese regulator, ANACOM, has taken a similar approach to Ofcom by publishing new guidance on potential resilience measures, although none of its recommendations focus on battery backup. ANACOM’s guidance suggests that operators should enable temporary national roaming and ease infrastructure access processes to allow for networks to be redeployed as quickly as possible after outages.
