Committees

UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability

Inquiry

The next generation of mobile telecommunications (known as ‘5G’) promises faster download speeds, more reliable connections and technical abilities that enable new systems such as autonomous vehicles or connected health devices.

In January 2020, the Government announced that it would allow Huawei and other “high risk vendors” to supply “non-sensitive” elements of the UK’s 5G telecommunications networks, despite security concerns.

The issue highlighted the UK’s lack of domestic capability to supply these networks. In rejecting US calls for a complete ban on Huawei equipment, the Prime Minister acknowledged that a lack of alternatives to high-risk vendors influenced the decision.

In a statement to the House of Commons in February, the Foreign Secretary stated that there were only three major players (previously identified by a previous Government as Nokia, Huawei, and Ericsson) who could supply key parts of the UK telecoms networks, and acknowledged this was a “market failure” which had implications for the “security and resilience” of UK networks.

Responding to concerns raised by Members of Parliament last month, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport told the House of Commons that the Government is not yet in a position “to set out a specific date or timetable for reaching no high-risk vendors” but that the Government would work with the “Five Eyes (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, US and UK) and other partners” to develop new supply chain capacity in our national infrastructure during the course of the Parliament.

In this context, the Science and Technology Committee has launched an inquiry to understand how telecommunications capacity can be built in the UK.

Read the call for evidence for more information about this inquiry.

Upcoming events

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Past events

Wednesday 28 October 2020
9:00am Private
9:30am Public
UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability - Oral evidence 28 October 2020
9:30am
  • The Lord Livingston of Parkhead (Chair at Telecoms Diversification Taskforce)
  • Scott Bailey (Deputy Director of the Diversification Unit at Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
10:00am
  • Tareq Amin (Chief Technology Officer at Rakuten Mobile)
  • Dr Tobias Feakin (Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology at Australian Government)
10:45am
  • Dr Ian Levy (Technical Director at National Cyber Security Centre)
  • Dr Yih-Choung Teh (Group Director for Strategy and Research at Ofcom)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Wednesday 30 September 2020
2:05pm Private
2:30pm Public
UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability - Oral evidence 30 September 2020
2:30pm
  • Ciaran Martin (Professor at University of Oxford)
  • Dr Mike Short (Chief Scientific Adviser at Department for International Trade)
3:15pm
  • Marcus Weldon (President at Bell Labs)
  • Kip Meek (Director at Communications Chambers and the Wireless Infrastructure Group)
4:00pm
  • Diane Rinaldo (Executive Director at Open RAN Policy Coalition)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Wednesday 22 July 2020
2:00pm Private
2:30pm Public
UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability - Oral evidence 22 July 2020
2:30pm
  • Amy Karam (Global Strategist and Fellow at Canadian Global Affairs Institute)
  • Dr Dritan Kaleshi (Head of Technology (5G) at Digital Catapult)
3:30pm
  • Rt Hon Oliver Dowden (Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport at Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
Thursday 9 July 2020
9:05am Private
10:15am Public
UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability - Oral evidence 9 July 2020
10:15am
  • Woojune Kim (Executive Vice President at Samsung)
  • Andrea Dona (Head of Networks at Vodafone UK)
  • Howard Watson (Chief Technology and Information Officer at BT Group)
9:15am
  • Dr Yao Wenbing (Vice President Business Development and Partnerships at Huawei UK)
  • Mr Jeremy Thompson (Vice President at Huawei UK)
  • Victor Zhang (Vice President and Chief Representative at Huawei UK)
The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

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