Telecoms Diversification Task Force

(asked on 13th May 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce has made on delivering its remit to date; and which UK regions have benefitted from investment through that Taskforce.


Answered by
Matt Warman Portrait
Matt Warman
This question was answered on 18th May 2021

The Telecoms Diversification Taskforce was established to look at where the Government should target measures to ensure effective, accelerated and sustainable diversification. The Taskforce’s findings and recommendations were published on 20 April on GOV.UK and we are currently in the process of developing targeted measures to deliver our strategy, guided by these recommendations.

We will respond to the Taskforce findings, and outline our next steps on diversification in the summer. This will include outlining how we will use the initial investment, of up to £250 million, to deliver our key priorities and maximise benefits across the UK.

We remain committed to supporting UK suppliers, investing in R&D initiatives across the supply chain, and championing the exciting research underway in UK universities and regional advanced technology hubs. In Wales, for example, the Government is providing funding for the NEC NeutrORAN trial. The trial will establish a testbed for a multi-operator, neutral host solution in outdoor rural and urban environments, whilst using Open virtualised Radio Access Network (RAN) principles.

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