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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for raising these important points. I hope the Minister will be able to confirm that the concerns raised by my noble friend in Amendment 23 are covered under new Section 134B(1)(h), which states that Ofcom’s reports under this section of the Bill must include, ""the preparations made by providers of UK networks for responding to an emergency, including preparations for restoring normal operation of UK networks disrupted by the emergency"." It seems sensible that matters such as the resilience of networks to physical damage and loss of power are considered under this section, and that emergency situations should include the ability of the state to communicate with its citizens. If these issues are not dealt with under this section, I would urge the Minister to listen to my noble friend and ensure that they indeed are properly taken care of. On Amendment 26, I feel that the most important issue is whether, when counting an exceptional load on a network as an emergency, Ofcom would be able to differentiate between busy periods, such as immediately after a football match or at rush hour, and other more significant emergencies, such as a terrorist attack. Both, arguably, could account for an exceptional load. Can the Minister clarify whether such a differentiation would be possible? On Amendment 30, I thank my noble friend Lord Attlee for giving such an erudite explanation of the GPS and other systems. I would simply—I am not sure that that is the right word to use after listening to my noble friend—ask the Minister whether the Government believe that Ofcom has the necessary expertise to carry out this important task, or whether another body or combination of bodies, or perhaps even the Government themselves, should compile such a report.