Electronic Communications Network
A transmission system for conveying signals by electrical, electromagnetic, or electro-optical means, as defined by the Communications Act 2003. Includes fixed, mobile, and broadcast networks.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
The Communications Act 2003 defines an 'electronic communications network' as a transmission system for the conveyance, by the use of electrical, magnetic or electro-magnetic energy, of signals of any description, together with such associated apparatus, switching or routing equipment, and software and stored data as the network provider uses in association with the transmission system to convey those signals.
The definition is deliberately technology-neutral: it applies to fixed-line telephone networks, mobile networks, cable and satellite broadcast networks, and internet infrastructure alike, without singling out any particular technology. This lets the same regulatory framework apply as networks converge and new transmission technologies emerge.
A related but separate concept in the Act is the 'electronic communications service' — a service, of the types the Act specifies, provided by means of an electronic communications network, except so far as it is a content service. The network is the transmission infrastructure; the service is what is carried over or delivered using it, and the two are regulated under related but distinct provisions of the Communications Act 2003.
Related terms
Official sources
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