The UK's Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology (DSIT) has told Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, to add data centers to its remit.
As first reported by Computer Weekly, Ofcom CEO Dame Melanie Dawes said that the department expects data centers to be included in the enactment of the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (CSRB).
Dawes made her comments in an oral evidence session overseen by DSIT, held on May 20.
The CSRB was detailed in April this year, and is set to be laid before parliament later in 2025.
In the CSRB Policy statement, DSIT noted that with data centers being designated Critical National Infrastructure in September 2024, "bringing data centers into scope of the regulations would strengthen and level the consistency of protection across the sector, provide a platform for secure growth and investment, and give Government and a designated regulator the levers to steward the sector in the face of an evolving threat landscape in line with other CNI utilities."
The statement does not name which "designated regulator" would be used, though the evidence session suggests it will be Ofcom.
Data centers will be considered "in scope" if they have 1MW or more capacity, unless they are enterprise data centers, in which case, they would need to offer 10MW or more.
The policy statement adds that, in the UK, there are currently 224 colocation data centers managed by 68 operators.
In the evidence session, Dame Dawes and Natalie Black, Ofcom's networks and communications group director, were asked what they saw as the weak points in the UK's cybersecurity defenses.
Black noted the importance of ensuring infrastructure is built with security in mind, adding: “I would probably highlight the use of third-party suppliers, which is always challenging.”
Dame Dawes said that, with data centers set to be included in the bill, Ofcom is happy to do "more in some of the spaces" that it already regulates, and that Chris Bryant, minister of state for DSIT, had already asked Ofcom to be the regulator.
Computer Weekly further reports that Ofcom has been asked to prepare itself to undertake regulating the data center sector. DSIT declined to comment to Computer Weekly.
The UK's Labour government, which came into office in 2024, has demonstrated a positive attitude to the data center industry in general.
Upon election, the government signaled its intention to welcome more data centers to Britain, with ministers to consult on changes to planning laws that could make it easier to build data centers in the UK. A previously rejected project was overturned by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner earlier this month.
