Yes, but it's still ultimately under direct control of UK forces. If GCHQ wanted to tap your cables, they would do so in the same way as in Britain.
I was asking more about the legal situation, whether they have enough independence to enact laws to prevent the authorities making "inside" attacks such as:
* Forcing operators to identify customers
* Forbid the operator from telling their customers about anything
* Take hardware without allowing it to be destroyed beforehand
These things could still happen illegally of course.
In legal terms I honestly don't know, but after Snowden I thought we agreed that the law is no obstacle for these people.