The task force will be led by Ian Livingstone, former CEO of BT and trade minister.
Reducing reliance on high-risk vendors: On 23 September 2020, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) announced the creation of a Telecoms Diversification Task Force to drive the diversification of the UK’s telecoms supply chain, with a view to reduce the reliance on so called ‘high-risk vendors’. The task force will advise the Government in implementing a Telecoms Diversification Strategy, which the Government expects to publish by the end of 2020. This follows the decision in July 2020 to ban Huawei equipment from UK 5G networks by the end of 2027.
A more open supply chain: The Strategy will look at measures to attract new vendors alongside the current main companies in the market, among those considered non-high risk suppliers. The Government is talking to large and small vendors to facilitate their entry into the market to accelerate diversification. In particular, the task force will look at accelerating the development of open and interoperable equipment which can be used by multiple vendors, such as OpenRAN.
Who will be in the task force? The task force will be chaired by Lord Ian Livingston, former CEO of BT. It will include senior executives from Vodafone and Openreach, alongside industry and academic experts.
