The Government calls for competition and diversity within the 5G supply chain

The UK Government has ambitions to have most of the country covered by a 5G signal by 2027.

The latest publication from Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport: “UK Telecoms Supply Chain Review Report”, calls for competition and diversity within the supply chain to support this.

The report also gives details of how the UK Government is preparing for any potential risks posed by 5G and has concludes that policy and regulation surrounding the enforcement of network security need to be tightened.

Diverse supply chains

Within the “UK Telecoms Supply Chain Review Report”, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Jeremy Wright MP calls for competition and diversity within the supply chain. Mr Wright said this is needed “if we are to drive innovation and reduce the risk of dependency on individual suppliers.”

Moving forward, the UK Government will pursue “a targeted diversification strategy, supporting the growth of new players in the parts of the network that pose security and resilience risks,” Mr Wright added.

Cyber Essentials Certification

Tech Crunch has reported that the Government will “seek to attract trusted and established firms to the UK market,” to ensure that the future “vibrant and diverse telecoms market” is fit for purpose for both consumers and national security.

5G will create new challenges for security and resilience in the UK as the technology’s “technical characteristics create a greater surface for potential attacks.”

Suppliers should be able to show how they manage these risks when bidding for 5G contracts that will be coming out in the next few years  Since the 1 October 2014, the UK government has taken steps to reduce the levels of cyber security risk within its supply chain.

All suppliers must comply with Cyber Essentials controls if bidding for government contracts “which involve handling of sensitive and personal information and provision of certain technical products and services.”

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