UK Telecommunications

Hywel Williams Excerpts
Tuesday 14th July 2020

(3 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Oliver Dowden Portrait Oliver Dowden
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My hon. Friend makes an important point about software versus hardware; indeed, that goes to some of the wider discussions around open RAN. We will of course always put national security first, which is what we have done with this statement today.

Hywel Williams Portrait Hywel Williams (Arfon) (PC) [V]
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The Secretary of State said that countries around the world have become reliant on too few vendors. That included the UK just half a year ago. Are his Government in any way to blame?

Oliver Dowden Portrait Oliver Dowden
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There has been a failure of successive Governments both in the United Kingdom and around the world in ensuring that we have sovereign capability not just in telecoms vendors but in other areas of emergent technology. That is precisely why we are bringing forward an investment security Bill to greater empower the Government to take decisions to protect our national interest in relation to investment in companies.