Political Monitor 03/07/2020

3 July 2020

COVID-19

Half a million frontline NHS workers benefit from coronavirus telecoms deal

DCMS published an update on their programme to support NHS workers in conjunction with the telecoms industry. This noted that nearly 500,000 NHS staff have directly claimed through their provider. The scheme was supported by a number of ISPA members and Andrew Glover ISPA’s chair is quoted in the release, stating:

“The telecoms industry has stepped up throughout this crisis and is proud to have been able to offer such support to the NHS at this time. ISPA has been working with our membership to push through these commitments and we’re delighted that so many clinicians have been able to benefit from the scheme.”

Ofcom publish statement on telecoms consumers during COVID-19

Ofcom have published a statement outlining the work they are doing to help protect consumers struggling to pay their telecoms bills due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This lists the steps they are taking to work with providers including:

 

Lords debate the Telecommunications Infrastructure Leasehold Property Bill

This week, the House of Lords debated the Telecoms Infrastructure (Leasehold property) Bill regarding wayleaves for MDUs. Once again, an amendment had been tabled linking the Bill to the ongoing debate on China and Huawei. This amendment (Amendment 5) sought to preclude any operator using the provisions of the Bill should there be any grounds “to suspect the operator intends to use the telecommunications infrastructure, or any part of it, to breach human rights.”

The amendment had wide and cross-party support in the Lords which has resulted in an offer from Government to bring forward their own amendment for the next and final Lords stage of the Bill (Third Reading). As a result of this offer, Lord Alton (CB) – the Amendment’s sponsor – agreed to hold the vote on the amendment until the next stage hoping that a compromise amendment can be struck.

In the Minister’s speech she quoted a briefing from ISPA which can be found in full here, which expresses concern that the current wording of the Bill could open up operators to legal challenges and therefore reduce the effectiveness of the Bill in speeding up broadband rollout.

Further amendments to the Bill were passed however, these included Amendment 1, which intended to clarify if tenanted premises in the public sector fell within the scope of the Bill and Amendment 7 which requires the Secretary of State to review the impact of the Act on the Electronic Communications Code. The review would assess the Code’s sustainability to support universal access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2025 and make future recommendations for amending it.

MP calls for developers to meet minimum standards for broadband connectivity

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP (Con) presented a short Bill in the House of Commons regarding the requirement for all new build homes to meet minimum standards for broadband connectivity, as well as insulation and electric car charging points. He argued that all new homes should be connected with full-fibre broadband and referenced the current Covid crisis which has underlined the importance of reliable connectivity. He noted the opportunities for home working and helping communities recover gigabit-speed broadband could bring, and was clear that all infrastructure should be future proofed.

Cyber Security

Defence Select Committee take evidence on the Security of 5G

On Tuesday, the Defence Select Committee heard evidence on the Security of 5G from the Secretaries of State for DCMS and Defence as well as the CEO of the NCSC, Ciaran Martin. Geopolitical issues dominated the evidence session as MPs were curious about the impact High Risk Vendors (HRVs) could have on the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and US. The session did not differentiate between mobile and fixed broadband, nor did it discuss Telecoms Security Requirements in any detail. However, Oliver Dowden MP, DCMS Secretary, confirmed that the Government aimed to eventually remove all HRVs it was just a question of when. Though transitioning from 35% down to 0% could only be achieved when the UK had addressed its vendor diversity problem.

Dowden recognised that stripping HRVs such as Huawei from existing telecoms networks would be expensive, highlighting costs to BT of about £500million. He estimated that the overall cost to vendors of stripping Huawei from their networks would be about £1.5billion. This would likely cause at least one year’s delay to 5G roll out. Should US sanctions on Huawei impact the Bill to the point where there must be a change in legislation, Dowden said he would explain this to the House of Commons in a statement and the Bill would then be delayed, though he did not specify how long it would be delayed for.

Online Safety

Democracy under threat from ‘pandemic of misinformation’ online, say Lords Committee

This week, the House of Lords Committee on Democracy and Digital Technologies warned that Government must act immediately to deal with a ‘pandemic of misinformation’. The Chair of the Committee, Lord Puttnam suggested that the unchecked power of digital platforms had caused a decline in trust, and that digital platforms regularly denied reasonability for content shared under their watch.  Puttnam also referenced the dangerous rise of misinformation surrounding Covid-19 which had been circulated in previous months, arguing that this could damage people’s health.

The Committee criticised the Government for not recognising the urgency of misinformation and recommended they immediately bring forward a Draft Online Harms Bill. The Committee also advised that should platforms fail to police their content, Ofcom should fine digital companies up to four percent of their global turnover or force ISP blocking of serial offenders.

Katie Price calls for tougher penalties for online abuse

This week, Katie Price gave evidence to the Commons Petitions Committee on online abuse. Price spoke about the abuse her disabled son Harvey has received and said that trolling was getting worse because there were “no consequences”. She suggested to MPs that social media companies should carry out ID checks on users and there should also be fines. The Petitions Committee said they want to end online abuse, especially as more people spend time online in lockdown but it is unknown when the Online Harms Bill will come into effect.

Digital regulation Cooperation

The CMA, the ICO and Ofcom have together formed a Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) to support regulatory coordination in online services, and cooperation on areas of mutual importance. The organisations believe that the unique challenges posed by the regulation of online platforms require an even greater level of regulatory cooperation and the group aims to achieve coherent, informed and responsive regulation of the UK digital economy. The group reflects the Government’s growing interest in this area, particularly with the aims of the Online Harms White Paper which sets out proposals to make clear companies’ responsibilities to keep UK users safer online.

Written Question on Online Harms Bill

Daniel Zeichner MP (Lab) asked the Secretary of State for DCMS whether it remains his Department’s policy to bring forward legislative proposals alongside the response to the Online Harms White Paper consultation full response in Autumn, 2020. Dinenage replied that the Home Office are working at pace to develop the legislation and will publish a full government response in the autumn. Following that, legislation will be ready in this session