The Committee rightly notes that the provision of older generations of network technology is a major barrier to diversification. The Government recognises the benefits of a transition away from these technologies, but we recognise the challenges associated with this, including the technical complexity involved in transitioning to up to date equipment and the ongoing requirement to support users and key public services. However, the Government is clear that progress can be made to reduce reliance on these older technologies and consequently the need for prospective suppliers to support them. The Government is working with mobile operators, suppliers, and users to set a clear roadmap for the long-term use and provision of network services, including any sunsetting or streamlining of 2G and 3G technologies. This involves gaining an understanding of mobile operator roadmaps, the needs of users and technical solutions that will enable transition away from these technologies. The Government expects to set out next steps this summer, in order to provide operators, suppliers and users with clarity and confidence about the long-term technology roadmap in the UK. In addition, the Government is also considering a number of policy options to help facilitate the entry of new suppliers in the nearer term. These include commercial incentives linked to the cost of introducing new vendor equipment into networks; investment to support interoperability and security testing of new suppliers; and opportunities around regulatory forbearance to incentivise operators towards trialling equipment from new suppliers and/ or alternative deployment methods. The Committee highlights two new deployment methods in particular, ‘standalone 5G’ and the ‘Open X2’ interface. The Government is committed to encouraging the development and adoption of innovative and advanced deployment methods and notes the potential value these could play in aiding the process of diversification. We will look to support research and development (R&D) in these—and other—deployment methods, in order to drive and demonstrate their performance and effectiveness. At this stage the Government’s priority is to encourage competition and innovation across the market rather than to mandate or require the use of any particular technical solution.