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.

Reports, special reports and government responses

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Second Report: 5G market diversification and wider lessons for critical and emerging technologies
Inquiry UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability
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HC 450
Report
Response to this report
Fifth Special Report - 5G market diversification and wider lessons for critical and emerging technologies: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report of 2019-21
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HC 1377
Special Report
Fifth Special Report - 5G market diversification and wider lessons for critical and emerging technologies: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report of 2019-21
Inquiry UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability
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HC 1377
Special Report

Correspondence

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Correspondence from the Chair to Sir Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, relating to critical and emerging technologies
Inquiry UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability
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HC 1377
Correspondence
Correspondence from Sir Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, to the Chair regarding critical emerging technologies
Inquiry UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability
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HC 1377
Correspondence
Correspondence from the Chair to Rt Hon Oliver Dowden MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport, relating to 5G market diversification and wider lessons for critical and emerging technologies
Inquiry UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability
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HC 1377
Correspondence

Oral evidence transcripts

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22 July 2020
Inquiry UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability
Witnesses Amy Karam (Global Strategist and Fellow at Canadian Global Affairs Institute), Dr Dritan Kaleshi (Head of Technology (5G) at Digital Catapult), and Oliver Dowden (Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport at Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
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Oral Evidence
28 October 2020
Inquiry UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability
Witnesses 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), Tareq Amin (Chief Technology Officer at Rakuten Mobile), Dr Tobias Feakin (Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology at Australian Government), Dr Ian Levy (Technical Director at National Cyber Security Centre), and Dr Yih-Choung Teh (Group Director for Strategy and Research at Ofcom)
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Oral Evidence
30 September 2020
Inquiry UK telecommunications infrastructure and the UK’s domestic capability
Witnesses Ciaran Martin (Professor at University of Oxford), Dr Mike Short (Chief Scientific Adviser at Department for International Trade), Marcus Weldon (President at Bell Labs), Kip Meek (Director at Communications Chambers and the Wireless Infrastructure Group), and Diane Rinaldo (Executive Director at Open RAN Policy Coalition)
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Oral Evidence

Written evidence

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Mavenir (UKT0038)
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Digital Catapult (UKT0037)
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Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) (UKT0036)
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Other publications

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  • Email: commonssitc@parliament.uk
  • Phone: 020 7219 5023 (general enquiries) | 020 7219 4984 (media enquiries)
  • Address: Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA