MDDI's response to PQs Related to The 8 October Singtel Disruption

Parliament Sitting on 11 November 2024

QUESTIONS FOR ORAL AND WRITTEN ANSWERS

*11. Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) what are the root causes of the 8 October 2024 disruption on Singtel’s telecommunications network; (b) whether existing business continuity and redundancy requirements for key telcos are adequate for instances where the telco supports hotlines and landline networks for essential services including SCDF, SPF, public healthcare institutions and major banks; and (c) what will be done to ensure key telcos provide adequate redundancy and backups amidst increasing cyber threats.

*12. Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) what are the lessons learned from the disruption of Singtel’s telecommunications network on 8 October 2024 to ensure that robust redundancies and backup systems are in place to minimise the impact on critical essential services from such disruptions; (b) what caused the fault and whether penalties will be imposed on Singtel; and (c) whether there will be an independent inquiry to identify vulnerabilities and prevent future incidents. 

*13. Ms Tin Pei Ling asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) what were the causes of the 8 October 2024 disruption on Singtel’s telecommunications network; (b) whether Singtel is required to have operational continuity plans in place to address disruptions and, if so, why did it not work; and (c) how will the Ministry ensure that all telecommunications service providers achieve operational continuity and resilience so that essential services are unaffected at all times.

*14. Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information with regard to the disruptions to essential services caused by SingTel’s outage on 8 October 2024 (a) how has businesses and the public been impacted; and (b) whether the contingency plans have been effective in mitigating the impact.

*15. Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) what is the estimated number of calls to 995 and 999 that have been impacted by the Singtel landline outage on 8 October 2024; and (b) what penalties, if any, have been imposed by IMDA on Singtel for this outage.

*16. Ms Hazel Poa asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information (a) what is the outcome of the investigation into the disruption of calls to emergency services hotlines that occurred on 8 October 2024; and (b) what actions will be taken to prevent such disruptions from happening again.

23. Ms See Jinli Jean asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information in light of Singtel's outage on 8 October 2024 which affected calls to the police and SCDF (a) whether the Government has data on the number of users who were not able to access (i) emergency hotlines and (ii) essential services; (b) how did the Ministry and Singtel assist the impacted Ministries and providers to attend to affected users; (c) how quickly was this assistance rendered; and (d) what measures are being introduced to address such vulnerabilities and their impact on seniors and less digitally connected persons.

Answer:

Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to answer PQs 11 through to 16 on today’s Order Paper, as well as Written Question No 23 on today’s Order Paper, filed by MP Ms See Jinli, together as they relate to the same incident.

Sir, on the 8^th of October 2024, Singtel’s fixed line voice service faced intermittent service disruption. This affected some residential and corporate users, including Government emergency phone lines such as SCDF’s 995 and SPF’s 999 lines, and customer service lines for some government agencies, healthcare organisations, and companies. MHA and MOH will be responding to queries on the service impact on their respective sectors arising from the incident. During the disruption, it is estimated that half of the calls could still be connected. All services were progressively restored over a 4-hour time period from the start of the incident.

IMDA, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, takes a serious view of this incident and is investigating the cause of this disruption and whether Singtel’s incident response was adequate. Preliminary findings suggest that there was a technical issue which affected the proper functioning of a network component in one of the two systems supporting Singtel’s fixed line voice service. The two systems, located in separate telephone exchanges, are designed to immediately take over the full load of the other system when one system malfunctions. However, in this instance, the failover did not happen seamlessly, which caused the intermittent service disruption. There is no evidence to suggest that the incident was related to a sabotage or cyber-attack. IMDA is continuing its investigations.

The telecommunication network in Singapore is a key infrastructure that supports our nation’s connectivity needs and requirements. IMDA holds key service providers, like Singtel, to high service standards and requires them to conduct regular audits on their network and infrastructure. This includes ensuring the security of network design, redundancy measures, and business continuity plans. Service providers must also ensure that their networks are resilient against disruptions. IMDA will not hesitate to take strong action under the Telecommunication Act, including imposing financial penalties, should any lapses be identified. IMDA is working with MHA, SCDF and SPF to conduct a comprehensive review on the availability of our emergency hotlines when disruptions occur.