Government must learn from 5G security risks

The Commons Science and Technology Committee has published a report highlighting the dependency of the UK's 5G rollout on just two vendors, posing risks to network resilience and security.

After years of telecommunication market consolidation and the recent decision to exclude Huawei, the UK is reliant on just two equipment vendors. MPs say that the government’s 5G supply chain diversification strategy has come too late to prevent this, and will—by its own admission—take years to achieve any success.

In order to avoid similar situations arising in other technologies, the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee says that the government must act to urgently assess its potential dependence on suppliers of emerging technologies.

The report warns against repeating mistakes as new and important technologies evolve. MPs call on the government to publish a new assessment of the risks of global technological divergence of standards—and the UK's action plan—within 12 months. The recommended White Paper should identify critical emerging technologies and associated risks of dependency on high risk vendors, and lay out the government's proposed response, including consideration of domestic capability and international co-operation, research and supply chain security, and fair, transparent standards setting.

Greg Clark, who chairs the committee, said: "A lack of strategic foresight in 5G has seen the UK become dependent on only two vendors for a crucial technology. We must learn from this experience to avoid making our economy and security vulnerable from a lack of acceptable alternatives in emerging technologies. AI and quantum technologies are just two examples of fields of development which can greatly advance the prospects for our economy and society, but can pose potential threats.

"While the committee welcomes the government's 5G diversification strategy, it has come too late and contains little by way of detail. The government needs to take an activist approach to encouraging research and development, and must now co-operate internationally to build common regulatory approaches with like-minded nations. As technologies develop at an ever faster rate, more time must not be lost. In a White Paper, the government must urgently lay out a strategy for the most important technologies of the future to avoid repeating the supplier squeeze we have ended up with in 5G."