Political Monitor 26/06/2020

26 June 2020

COVID-19

Government to publish new post-Covid-19 digital strategy in the Autumn

During his closing speech at the UK Tech Cluster Group, Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden MP announced that the Government will publish a new digital strategy in the Autumn to reflect the new post-COVID reality. His speech touched on the following key points:

• Tech will play an integral part in getting the country back on its feet post lockdown.  Dowden said tech was needed to power the UK out of what inevitably will be a recession and into recovery.
•  Aim is to create the best data regime possible which will allow businesses and public services to use and share vital information quickly, efficiently and ethically.
• Dowden spoke on building a highly skilled digital workforce across every region of the UK by creating a strategy that would about help workers adjust to a digital-led economy after coronavirus.
• Dowden briefly mentioned the benefits of world-class, next generation infrastructure in the form of 5G.
• He said the UK should push for ambitious trade deals that will expand digital exports and drive inward investment for tech communities.
• Dowden called for the guidance of the tech industry to shape the Government ’s new approach.

Broadband

Ofcom CEO answers questions on broadband

During an oral evidence session to the DCMS Committee, Ofcom CEO, Melanie Dawes answered questions from Damian Green MP (Con) on the rollout of Broadband in the UK. When asked if the COVID-19 crisis had made the 2025 target harder to reach, Dawes stated that whilst the 2025 target was “very stretching”, Ofcom’s work had not stopped and they were still on schedule to complete the market review next April. She noted increased investments announced by providers over the pandemic highlighting the increased business case for communications investment. On competition in the broadband market, Dawes stated that whilst three competing networks was “great”, two would also be good to ensure coverage across the country as quickly as possible, and that there were a number of smaller investors that were rolling out significantly in specific areas, so they did not have a fixed view on how many networks was deemed proper competition.

On take up, Dawes noted the role Ofcom had to play in clarifying language for consumers and noted that the advertising rules around the use of “fibre” was “something we need to keep under review”.

Telecoms Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill

The Telecoms Infrastructure Bill, which is aimed at speeding up wayleaves to access Multi-Dwelling Units when faced with an unresponsive landlord, reaches the report stage of the House of Lords on Monday. The Peers have tabled a number of amendments including (Amendment 5) which seeks to ensure that those using the provisions of the Bill do not facilitate human rights abuses, including in their supply chain in line with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Ofcom report shows UK’s internet use surges to record levels

Ofcom published their annual Online Nation report this week which showed that internet usage has increased over the last six months. Unsurprisingly, the report found that usage has increased during lockdown with zoom seeing a 2000% rise in users. Network traffic saw a surge in the first two weeks of lockdown by roughly 20% which continued throughout April. Evening peaks however have remained stable showing that traffic has been driven by daytime usage. The report also notes that improved broadband speeds have allowed for increased usage of online games.

Cyber Security

Science and Technology Oral evidence session.

On Wednesday, the Science and Technology Committee held its first oral evidence session in its inquiry into the Telecoms Supply Chain and the UK’s domestic Capability. The committee heard from Matthew Evans, Director of techUK, Professor Dimitra Simeonidou, Professor of High-Performance Networks at University of Bristol and Attilio Zani, Executive Director of Telecom Infra Project. Some notable points included:

• In reference to the UK having three vendors, Professor Simeonidou noted that the UK was not in a unique position. She referenced the supply chain of top vendors as Huawei, Ericson and Nokia, and stressed that the telecom vendor industry was very complicated, and many vendors hadn’t survived the last ten years.
• Simeonidou favoured a multi-vendor which complies with the national standards, arguing this would make the infrastructure more robust and secure.
• Asked whether it is feasible for the UK to develop an alternative vendor, Simeonidou responded that it would be very difficult to develop a vendor which can catch up in time and be cutting edge. The new vendor would also require billions of funding a year for a long period of time.
• Evans stated that developing an alternative vendor would delay 5G roll out. should HRVs be excluded Evans estimated this would likely cause a delay of two-three years adding that companies would be spending money just refurbishing existing 4G infrastructure.
• Zani stated that he didn’t like the term ‘high risk vendor’ because he didn’t know the specific risks of any individual vendor and the inner workings of their organisations to comment on their security.

Online Safety

Dame Melanie Dawes, Chief Executive, Ofcom gives evidence to DCMS Committee

Dame Melanie Dawes, Chief Executive of Ofcom gave evidence for the first time since becoming CEO of Ofcom three months ago. Dawes was asked what engagement Ofcom had had with Government about becoming the online harms regulator to which Dawes clarified that this decision had not been taken yet. However, Dawes said Ofcom had already begun recruiting data analysts and increasing their internal resource. She was confident that they would be able to attract the right talent, and had already recruited from the likes of Google for these roles. Dawes said that during interactions with Whitehall, the Government had appeared “really keen to get on with” implementing online harms changes.

Dawes avoided being drawn on the specifics of what constituted an online harm, saying there was a choice to be made on whether these were contained with the relevant Bill or emerged from dialogue between the regulator and platforms. She repeatedly noted that this was largely a decision for parliamentarians and policymakers, rather than the regulator.

Without the Online Harms legislation already in place, Dawes encouraged any “responsible platform” to be conducting their own assessments of online harms and be able to demonstrate that these had been considered. Dawes explained that once a regulator had been appointed, fines could also be used to tackle disinformation or online harms and additional measures could be considered for companies with “significant financial muscle”. Dawes acknowledged that regulating Facebook, Twitter and Facebook would be a “big challenge” but promised that if Ofcom was appointed to the role, it would “shine a light” and “hold them to account”, she told MPs.

Oral Parliamentary questions on online safety

Henry Smith MP (Con) asked Education Minister Vicky Ford What steps the Department was taking to protect children and young people online during the covid-19 Ford replied that the Government  had been working with the National Crime Agency, the UK Safer Internet, Internet Matters, the National Society for the Prevention of  Cruelty to Children and many other experts to provide guidance and support to schools, colleges, parents and carers.