“My Government will introduce measures to increase the safety and
security of its citizens.”
The purpose of the Bill is to:
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● Give the Government new powers to boost the security
standards of the UK’s telecoms networks and establish one of
the strongest regimes for telecoms security in the world.
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● Strengthen the security and oversight of technology used in
telecoms networks including the electronic equipment and
software used across the network which handle internet
traffic and telephone calls.
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● Ensure that the Government can respond to national security
threats within our networks now and in the future, as
technologies evolve and new threats emerge.
The main benefits of the Bill would be:
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● Ensuring the long-term security and resilience of the UK’s
telecoms networks and infrastructure and minimising the
threat of high risk vendors.
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● Giving people confidence in the security of the mobile and
broadband networks which they rely upon for business and
leisure, in an age where new and potentially transformative
technologies such as 5G and gigabit-capable broadband are
emerging.
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● Delivering on the Government’s commitment in the 2019
Telecoms Supply Chain Review Report to introduce a new,
robust telecoms security framework.
The main elements of the Bill are:
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● New legal duties on telecoms firms to increase the security
of the entire UK telecoms network.
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● New powers for the Government to place controls on use of
services and equipment from high risk vendors such as Huawei.
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● New responsibilities on Ofcom to monitor telecoms
operators’ security.
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● Fines of up to 10 per cent of turnover or £100,000 a day
for failing to meet the required standards.
Territorial extent and application
● The Bill’s provisions will extend and apply to the whole of the
UK.
Key facts
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● The National Cyber Security Centre has issued advice which
references the vendors it considers are high risk. These
include Huawei and ZTE.
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● We have set out our clear long-term timetable to remove
Huawei from our 5G networks by the end of 2027 and announced
that operators should stop installing Huawei telecoms
equipment in 5G networks by the end of September 2021.
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● The Bill would, subject to the relevant consultation
requirements, enable the Government to put these
announcements on a clear legal footing and to take action,
when necessary, against other high risk vendors in the
future.
