Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021

Overview of the Act

Reproduced verbatim from the Explanatory Notes published with the Act on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Explanatory Notes are prepared by the responsible government department and are not part of the Act.

The Telecommunications (Security) Act ("the Act") takes forward the Government’s commitment published in the 2019 UK Telecoms Supply Chain Review Report to introduce a new security framework for the UK telecoms sector to ensure that public telecommunications providers operate secure and resilient networks and services and manage their supply chains appropriately.

The Act amends the Communications Act 2003 by establishing a new telecommunications security framework, including new security duties on public telecommunications providers and new powers for the Secretary of State to make regulations and issue codes of practice. It includes provisions strengthening Ofcom’s regulatory powers, allowing them to enforce the new framework.

The Act also introduces new national security powers for the Government to impose, monitor and enforce controls on public communications providers’ use of designated vendors’ goods, services and facilities within UK telecommunications networks.

In the previous parliamentary session, the Act completed Committee stage in the House of Commons before it was carried over.