People who deliberately damage the UK’s undersea data and energy cables could face up to 14 years in prison, and ship owners unlimited fines, under proposals published by the government on 22 October 2026.
A White Paper sets out plans to update what the government describes as 140-year-old legislation protecting critical undersea infrastructure. Its publication starts a 12-week public consultation seeking views from industry, experts and the public.
Why the cables matter
According to the government, the fibre-optic cables on the seabed carry around 99% of the UK’s international data, underpinning messaging, video calls, online banking and shopping. Undersea pipelines provide 74% of the UK’s gas supply, and undersea electricity cables bring supply from Europe and from the UK’s offshore wind sector.
The government says the UK already has a highly resilient subsea cable network and that faults are usually caused by accidents involving anchors or trawler nets, environmental hazards or technical failures. But it says suspicious activity around critical undersea infrastructure is increasingly being observed, and points to April, when the British Armed Forces exposed a covert Russian submarine operation around undersea infrastructure in and around UK waters.
The four proposals
The White Paper covers four areas:
- new criminal offences, stronger penalties and new enforcement measures for harmful conduct against undersea telecoms and energy infrastructure, covering damage caused intentionally, recklessly or negligently;
- statutory security and resilience duties for providers of subsea telecoms cable infrastructure, including stronger requirements to identify and manage risks to their networks;
- a national security direction power, letting the Secretary of State direct providers of subsea telecoms cables and repair capabilities where necessary and proportionate;
- a regulatory regime for the national security risks of sensing technology installed on subsea fibre-optic cables, which can detect activity at sea but could pose risks if sensitive data fell into the wrong hands.
What ministers said
Telecoms Minister Ian Murray said: “Undersea cables are the hidden backbone of modern Britain, carrying the data we rely on every day to message friends and family, do our banking, and run our businesses.” He added that some of the laws protecting them “date back more than a century”.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: “Those who deliberately or recklessly damage our undersea infrastructure will face tougher penalties, including longer prison sentences and unlimited fines.”
What it means for UK telecoms
For subsea cable operators and repair firms, the plans would bring statutory security duties and a government power to direct them, while operators of fibre-optic sensing on cables would face a new regulatory regime. Our tech section follows UK telecoms regulation, including the competition review of nexfibre’s takeover of the Substantial broadband group.
What to watch next: responses to the 12-week consultation, and when the government brings forward legislation.