The UK Government will track operators’ commitment to encouraging diversity in the telecoms supply chain, and will look to secure a commitment from the operators to pursue multi-vendor procurement “wherever feasible.”
The Government has just published its response to a September 2024 report from the Telecoms Supply Chain Diversification Advisory Council, a body set up to advise on the strategic need to ensure diversity in the telecoms supply chain.
Within its lengthy response, it accepts a long series of recommendations from the Council and sets out its plans to take action. As part of those it said it will “reach a new agreement with all MNOs on the development and deployment of advanced connectivity technologies.”
These will include regular sharing of data to assess how risks from supply chain concentration are developing, as well as the operators providing support for security testing, working with the UK Telecoms Lab.
The government will also secure “a commitment” from MNOs to consider the supply chain security and resilience implications of procurement choices, including adopting multivendor strategies whenever feasible.
It isn’t clear how these commitments will be made binding or what form they will take.
For its part, the Government said it would help MNOs address any challenges they face when seeking to adopt new scale vendors and Open RAN in their networks – for example, through support to address skills gaps.
A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said, “We’re committed to supporting the government as it works to improve supply chain diversity and look forward to engaging fully with the recommendations. We already use a range of vendors in our network and welcome moves to boost competition and improve resilience and security.”
A BT Group spokesperson said: “We support a diverse and innovative supply chain across the telecoms industry, including via a multi-vendor approach. We continue to work closely with Government on issues of national resilience and security.”
Leaning on operators to adopt multivendor strategies is just one part of the Government response to the Council’s recommendations.
As part of its plans, there is additional investment in R&D to support UK companies and projects developing advanced connectivity technologies.
Speaking to the Connected Futures Festival in Bristol, Telecoms Minister Chris Bryant announced a further £60 million is being made available for funding the country’s lab infrastructure and R&D in 2025/2026. This backs up £70 million spent on programmes like ChEDDAR, EPSRC and JOINER over the past two years.
The Report response also mentions an additional £28 million for the Future Telecoms Technology Missions Fund planned for the 2025/26 financial year.
Advanced connectivity now the term of choice
The government will also adopt the term advanced connectivity rather than future networks.
It thinks advanced connectivity technologies, as a term, “better reflects the broad range of technologies that are already – or will be soon – integral to delivering the connectivity that will underpin our future economic growth.”
Bryant told the conference audience, “We’re changing the terminology to something which better suits the situation we face today. Advanced optics and satellite comms are not the ghost of telecoms future any more, but the telecoms present.”
Bryant also announced that advanced connectivity will be one of the growth markets in Government’s industrial strategy, within the digital and technology sector.
The Government will also establish a new independent Advanced Connectivity Technologies Council to cover the breadth of advanced connectivity technologies the government is looking to support and provide independent advice on how to collaborate with the sector to implement the government’s priorities. It wants the Council to include those developing advanced connectivity technologies, representatives of major UK operators and other vertical sectors that will be using these technologies.
