Written question asked by John Healey (Labour) on Thursday, 3 November 2022, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 8 November 2022 (named day). It was answered by James Heappey (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 November 2022 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
Electric Cables and Telecommunications Cables: Seas and Oceans
- Question
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, in the context of recent incidents of undersea cables being cut, when his Department last undertook a review of the security arrangements for protecting the UK’s undersea cable infrastructure.
- Answer
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The recent incident in the Shetlands was assessed to have been caused by fishing. Accidental breakage of subsea communications cables is not uncommon, particularly through trawling and other seabed-disturbing activities, and mechanisms to repair them are well tested.
Overall Governmental responsibility for subsea power and telecommunications cables lies with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, respectively.
Subsea internet cables are specifically considered in the National Risk Assessment which is kept under review. The UK Government, with the support of Defence, continuously reviews the broad range of national security threats including threats and hazards to subsea communication cables.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 78639
- Session
- 2022-23
- Subjects
- Infrastructure Electric cables Security Seas and oceans Telecommunications cables
- Link
- View this Written question on www.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2022-11-08 12:21:26 +0000
- URI
- http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2022-23/78639
- In Indexing
- http://indexing.parliament.uk/Content/Edit/1?uri=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2022-23/78639
- In Solr
- https://search.parliament.uk/claw/solr/?id=http://data.parliament.uk/writtenparliamentaryquestion/commons/2022-23/78639