Foreword by the Head of UKTIN, Nick Johnson
Private Networks are a key growth area in telecoms. People in many vertical industries, including manufacturing, health care and transport to name a few, are realising that a private, dedicated, clean spectrum, custom-deployed network can add value to their businesses and improve the services they offer their customers.
With any new thing come uncertainty and risk. Through one lens, private networks are just like any other enterprise network that IT professionals have been looking after happily for years. But through another, is the technology so new that network security presents an added risk, especially as private networks are used in mission critical applications?
UKTIN is keen to help answer these questions. We've already set up an Expert Working Group on Security, and in the meantime we're helping DSIT promote a Call For Information on how people are planning to supply, operate and use private networks and the perceived security and resilience issues that remain around them.
Read on for more. We appreciate your help...
Today the Department of Science Innovation and Technology is launching a Call for Information on the uses and security of private telecoms networks. We would like to invite you to respond.
As set out in the Government’s Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, 5G has the potential to enable mission-critical services and underpin technologies that can bring significant economic benefits. The deployment of 5G is likely to lead to further growth in the market for private telecoms networks as organisations aim to take advantage of the high reliability, low latency and high capacity offered by this latest generation of communications technologies. However as more of these networks are deployed, we need to better understand how they are being used and what measures are being taken to ensure they are secure. This is particularly the case when the networks are being deployed within critical sectors, such as transport, energy or health.
We know that the telecoms sector, and particularly the private networks market is made up of a diverse range of stakeholders. We are particularly interested in getting responses from those working at the cutting-edge of the telecoms sectors delivering new and innovative connectivity solutions. The more diverse the responses we receive the better we can reflect the needs of the industry in our policy work.
The government plans to use the responses to the call for information to develop a better understanding of the uses and security of private telecoms networks in the UK to inform its policy making. We appreciate that every response to this type of consultation represents an investment of time and effort, particularly for a smaller business, but they are critically important for us in building a clearer picture of what is happening in the telecoms industry and how government can help support this.
You can complete the call for information on our online submission portal, or you can email a response to private.networks.cfi@dcms.gov.uk. The call for information will be open for 10 weeks, closing on 13 September 2023.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at private.networks.cfi@dcms.gov.uk if you have any questions about the call for information.
