Political Monitor 25/09/2020
25 September 2020
Broadband
ISPA gives evidence to DCMS Committee
ISPA Chair, Andrew Glover, gave evidence as part of the DCMS Committee inquiry into broadband and the road to 5G. ISPA was joined by fellow witnesses Malcolm Corbett, from INCA and Hamish Macleod, of Mobile UK. Some key points from the session include:
- The Committee was interested to know if the 2025 deadline for gigabit broadband was achievable. Glover stated that 2025 was an ambitious target and was achievable only if obstacles including street works, resourcing and skills were overcome. Both INCA and ISPA stated that the Government’s £5 billion funding to reach the target would likely fall short.
- The Committee asked whether DCMS had been clear enough in their targets and messaging with the ISP sector. ISPA responded that although DCMS have been clear, Ofcom has not been clear as to how they will implement the Government’s strategy e.g. how industry will achieve deadlines in Government intervention areas. MobileUK said it was unhelpful to have moving targets as these created uncertainty in the supply chain.
- MPs representing rural constituencies wanted to know how competition and choice work in rural areas. ISPA said there was a large choice of ISPs and that the expansion of infrastructure meant the sector would work to ensure they were still available across the new infrastructure being built. On what Government could do more, ISPA said they could go further than the Wayleaves Bill and said the fiber tax was a regularity uncertainty.
Written question on slow internet speeds
Nicola Richards MP (Con) asked DCMS if they will take steps to support residents in her constituency tackle slow internet speeds. DCMS Minister Matt Warman MP responded that the Government would work to remove barriers to commercial network rollout and that as of 27 August, 26% of UK premises have access to gigabit-capable speeds. Warman said that although there was more for the Government to do, according to the Ofcom mobile availability checker, residents in her constituency could access a 4G connection across all four of the mobile network operators.
Cyber Security
Task force to attract new vendors to UK telecoms
DCMS have announced a new task force to advise the Government on how to grow the telecoms market following their decision to ban Huawei. The Telecoms Diversification Task Force will be Chaired by Ex-BT CEO and former trade minister Lord Ian Livingston and will seek to drive forward ongoing work to diversify the UK’s telecoms supply chain and reduce reliance on high-risk vendors. The Telecoms Diversification Task Force will also have access to independent expert advice from NCSC and Ofcom and includes members from Vodafone, Openreach and the UK5G Advisory Board. A full list of members and further information on the task force can be found here.
Online Safety
DCMS Committee on Online Harms and the ethics of data
The DCMS Sub Committee on Online Harms and Disinformation held an evidence session as part of its inquiry into online harms and the ethics of data. Witnesses included representatives from TikTok, Tech Buzz China and the Beijing Financial Times (BFT). Key points include:
- Chair of the Committee, Julian Knight MP (Con), asked if the witnesses had any suggestions for what should be contained in the Online Harms regulation. BFT replied that the algorithms which TikTok uses to recommend content to users were largely opaque. Because of this it was difficult to ascertain whether the recommended content was designed to benefit users and not advertisers. BFT said that in the future, the possibility of the Chinese Government’s influence in the algorithm was also a concern.
- Tech Buzz China agreed with BFT on the kinds of content which the Chinese Government may seek to control in the future. Acts of censorship and intervention had been much more easily discovered on the app and they were reported by users and reported to the media. Tech BUZZ China also said that the legislation could ask for more algorithmic transparency.
Written question on DNS over HTTPS
Shadow DCMS Secretary, Jo Stevens MP (Lab), asked DCMS what assessment they have made of the potential effect on the UK online regulation framework and effectiveness of UK online regulatory bodies of plans by Apple, Microsoft and Google to enable DNS over HTTPS on their services and platforms. DCMS Minister Caroline Dinenage MP responded that DCMS continues to monitor the DNS over HTTPS roll out of all key companies, including Apple, Microsoft and Google and its potential impact on proposals for a new Online Harms Regulatory Framework. Dinenage stressed that the Online Harms regulator will have the powers to take effective enforcement action against companies that fail to fulfill their duty of care.
Teacher training: internet safety and harms
The Department for Education has released new teacher training resources on internet safety and harms. The training modules are for both primary and secondary school children, and look at topics including internet use and risk, privacy, targeted advertisement and understanding online information.
Subgroup news
Please find an update on our ongoing policy work below
Liability
- This week ISPA attended a roundtable with various teams at DCMS to discuss the Government’s plan for online harms. ISPA do not suspect any major surprises in terms of how the new framework will affect ISPs. The final response is expected to be published in the coming weeks. For more detail please contact Till Sommer (Till@ispa.org.uk)
Broadband
- This week ISPA gave oral evidence to the DCMS Committee inquiry into Broadband and the road 5G. ISPA’s Chair, Andrew Glover represented the industry alongside INCA and MobileUK, and more information on this can be found in the broadband section of the monitor.
- ISPA also submitted its response to the first tranche of the Treasury’s Call for Evidence as part of their Fundamental Review of Business Rates.
- ISPA’s Head of Policy, Till Sommer, chaired a panel on how to drive take up at the Connected Britain Conference.
- A call regarding the GigaTAG Call for evidence into boosting consumer take up will take place next week. For more information and to attend, please contact Emma Shearer (emmas@ispa.org.uk)
ISPA events
ISPA Awards Online Ceremony
You are invited to the 22nd annual ISPA Awards ceremony, which will take place on a very engaging online platform on Wednesday 18th November from 4.30pm-5.30pm. Please add this date to your diaries and RSVP to awards@ispa.org.uk if you would like to secure your free ticket. More information will be revealed soon but rest assured that although we can’t meet in person this year, we will make the ceremony exciting and fun as always. Keep your eyes peeled for future announcements!