“Proposals will be taken forward...to extend 5G mobile coverage
and gigabit capable broadband...”
The purpose of the Bill is to:
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● Ensure that smart consumer products, including smartphones
and televisions, are more secure against cyber attacks,
protecting individual privacy and security.
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● Accelerate and improve the deployment and use of digital
communications networks. This will support the installation,
maintenance, upgrading and sharing of apparatus that enables
better telecommunications coverage and connectivity.
The main benefits of the Bill would be:
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● Protecting consumers from cyber attacks by preventing the
sale of insecure devices with default passwords which are
easy to hack, and ensuring they are made aware at point of
sale about how long devices like smart televisions, phones
and speakers, will receive security updates.
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● Keeping product security standards up to date, protecting
the UK from emerging threats. It will also enable the UK to
lead the international adoption of more secure technologies.
Improving security will increase consumer confidence to adopt
emerging technologies as they come to market.
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● Supporting faster and more efficient deployment of
telecommunications networks, to keep pace with the growing
demand for fast, reliable, resilient connectivity from homes
and businesses across the UK.
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● Reducing the number of new sites and installations needed
by ensuring the use of existing apparatus and equipment is
optimised.
The main elements of the Bill are:
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● Requiring manufacturers, importers and distributors to
ensure that consumer connected products that are available to
UK consumers meet minimum security standards. It would also
create powers to investigate cases of non-compliance and to
take steps to ensure compliance.
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● Providing a robust regulatory framework that can adapt and
remain effective in the face of rapid technological
advancement, the evolving techniques employed by malicious
actors and the broader international regulatory landscape.
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● Reforms to the Electronic Communications Code to support
faster and more
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collaborative negotiations for the use of private and public land
for telecommunications deployment, and to put the right framework
in place for the use of installed apparatus. The Government is
carefully analysing responses to the recent consultation to
ensure this package of reforms delivers the necessary results.
Territorial extent and application
● The Bill will extend and apply to the whole of the UK.
Key facts
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● The average UK household is estimated to have had over nine
smart devices in 2020, and since the COVID-19 pandemic, six
in ten consumers in the UK report an increase in their
household use of smart devices.
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● Research suggests that cyber-attacks targeting Internet of
Things (IoT) devices could cost the UK’s economy £1 billion
annually. Personal data has been lost and compromised devices
have been used to launch botnet attacks on businesses,
governments and critical infrastructure.
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● In 2020, only 18.9 per cent of global manufacturers
surveyed reported having a policy in place for
vulnerabilities to be disclosed to and resolved by the
manufacturer.
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● Across the UK, 4G geographic coverage from each mobile
network currently ranges between 79-85 per cent of premises.
The Government aims to ensure that 95 per cent of the UK’s
geographic landmass has 4G coverage from at least one mobile
network operator by 2025.
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● The Government is committed to ensuring that the majority
of the UK population has 5G coverage by 2027. The number of
mobile base stations providing 5G services has risen ten-fold
in the past year, to around 3,000 across the UK. Currently,
over 40 per cent of premises in the UK have access to
gigabit-capable broadband. We are also working with industry
to target a minimum of 85 per cent gigabit-capable coverage
by 2025 and to get as close to 100 per cent as possible.
