5G: Competition

(asked on 28th January 2021) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the diversity of the market in relation to 5G infrastructure in the UK; and what plans they have, if any, for the diversification of that market.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 4th February 2021

The Government recognises the importance of diversity in the 5G infrastructure supply chain. That is why the Government published a 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy in November 2020.

This strategy sets out three core strands of activity to address the lack of diversity in UK 5G supply chains. These are: i) Protecting incumbent suppliers to ensure the resilience of our networks in the short term; ii) Attracting new scale suppliers to the UK market to increase diversity and competitiveness in the medium term; iii) Accelerating the development and deployment of open interface technologies in the RAN in order to reduce barriers to entry and diversify the supply chain in the long run.

The Government has also established a Diversification Taskforce, comprising key industry and academic figures and led by Lord Livingstone of Parkhead, to design and execute targeted measures for each of these strands. The Government has announced an initial investment of £250m to fund these targeted measures and deliver our long-term vision of a diverse, competitive, and healthy market for 5G infrastructure.

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