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Telecommunications Cables: Seas and Oceans

Answer

The Ministry of Defence fully recognises the risk from hostile underwater activities to our undersea cable networks, here in the UK and across the world.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is the lead department for the energy sector, including subsea energy cables. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is the lead department for telecommunications policy, including the security and resilience of telecommunications subsea cables.

Accidental damage caused by fishing, particularly trawling and other seabed-disturbing activities remains the most likely risk to subsea cables. Indeed, as the recent incident in the Shetlands has shown, accidental breakage of communications cables is not unknown and mechanisms to repair them are well tested.

The Government regards subsea cables as critical to our national and international infrastructure and monitors a variety of risks they face and subsea internet cables are specifically considered in the UK's National Risk Assessment. Detailing security arrangements made to protect such cables from sabotage would be likely to prejudice the purpose of safeguarding their security, and with it national security.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

68486

Session

2022-23

Subjects

Terrorism Seas and oceans Telecommunications cables

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk