Former BT CEO to lead task force that will advise UK.gov on diversifying the nation's telecoms supply chain

The Ministry of Fun* has assembled a new task force of senior mobile industry bods to help diversify the UK's telecoms supply chain and reduce the exposure to so-called "high-risk vendors" such as Huawei. Assembled ahead of the publication of the UK's Telecoms Diversification Strategy, the group brings together experts from …

[Anonymous Coward]

The last thing they want.

No Govt, or more to the point, Civil Servant in charge of purchasing, wants diversification. They like a cosy band of a few suppliers that keeps life easy. Far less work than undertaking and managing competitive frameworks - just make up some excuse to single source to your favourite / easiest to deal with and off we go!

[David Pearce]

Vendors wriing specs

Lazy procurement allow vendors to write the requirements specifications for them with all of the proprietary features, shutting out rival bids

[Yet Another Hierachial Anonynmous Coward]

30 years too late

If the government are suddenly worried about this, perhaps they shouldn't have been so willing to standby and watch the likes of Plessey, GEC, Racal, Ferranti, Marconi, etc., go down the tubes. We used to develop and make our own telecomms kit in the UK AND export the stuff around the world! Almost unbelievable, I know.

The perils of short-termism of previous governments comes back to bite on the arse.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: 30 years too late

Short-termism of the stock market is likely to have been just as potent.

[0laf]

What's next chair of the meat board advising on veganism, head of the coal board advising on renewable energy?

It's "In the Thick of IT" come to life.

Our government - From bean to cup you fuck it up.

[David Lawton]

Well I would laugh but.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/351596.stm

[DaemonProcess]

seen it

I've witnessed first support, then product development be moved offshore over the past 30 years. Most western IT companies are just shells of management, sales and project managers, with everything else located in cheaper labour territories.

Maybe we Reg readers can create a product, something like 5G AI-adaptive Multi-layer Blockchain On K8s Managed Above Cloud Storage (5G-AIM-BOG-KMACS). Requires a mere 100000 micro-satellites consisting of a RPI-zero, a USB-drive and a transceiver. Give it a pretty GUI and senior civil servants will leap on it.

[Caver_Dave]

Re: seen it

You mean like this https://www.windriver.com/products/cloud-platform/vran for the first line of your spec. before you lost it in the second line?

Multiple large customers around the world...

[DaemonProcess]

Re: seen it

Lordy, it was supposed to be a joke... but as usual someone else thought of it first and made money out of it when I didn't. Feel free to submit your own half-baked ideas too.

[Doctor Syntax]

"Department for Digital, Media, Culture, and Sport"

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.actually but I prefer to omit the second comma - leaving the door agar for other interpretations.

[MadAsHell]

What has Amy Karan been smoking?

Failure of Capitalism my a***. Capitalism/Free Market has done *exactly* what it should have, and Directors of public companies have a legal duty to maximise value for their shareholders.

Very clearly - as others have noted - a failure by Governments to manage the risks in their supply chain. Just like UK DHSC and PPE...

[Anonymous Coward]

Conflict?

Doe he have shares in anything? Is there a conflict of interest here?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sleaze ?

Why does no one mention this word? Remember the Lordess Dido? in charge of contact rracing and soon to be head of NHS !

Only becasue she was paly with DAvid CAmeron and married to an MP who are mates with Bojo et al.

[evangellick]

Standing on a chair selling shit

Stanley Kalms blue eyed boy, We saw how Dixons worked bullying and dodgy warranties. All about the time that Iain was working with Stan the market stall electrical goods man. Hardly one to be overseeing the shitstorm failure of UK investment in tech, especially on his watch was when BT nailed Marconi to the burning longship to choose Huawei amongst other for the launch of 21CN. Remember Wick in Cardiff not Wick in Sutherland; what a wheeze. Was that really 15 years ago!