The Culture Secretary has confirmed in a major policy U-turn in government policy, new Huawei products are to be banned from the UK’s 5G network infrastructure from December 31 this year and existing 5G equipment currently being used within UK 5G will have to be taken out by 2027.
Updating MPs in the House of Commons, Mr Dowden said the decision had been made after US sanctions forced the 5G giant to use untrusted microchips in their products.
New restrictions are also being applied to use of the company’s broadband kit.
Sanctions are forcing Huawei to produce their own chips, most likely from China, and the National Cyber Security Centre advised ministers they could no longer guarantee to invalidate the risk.
The ban on Huawei could delay the UK’s full rollout of 5G by years and the transition to an alternative could cost hundreds of millions. Mr Dowden claimed the move would delay the country’s 5G rollout by a year.
“This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run,” he said.
Huawei says it employs about 1,600 people in the UK and claims to be one of Britain’s largest sources of investment from China.
The firm has sponsored work at several universities including Imperial College, London, Southampton and Surrey.
In addition, it operates research centres of its own employing a total of 400 people up and down the United Kingdom. These centres are based in Edinburgh, Bristol, Cambridge and Ipswich.
Many have speculated the United Kingdom banning the Chinese tech giant is in direct response to the new security laws recently passed in Hong Kong that have been widely condemned by western leaders. Another claim has been that HM’s government is looking to cosy up with the Trump administration who is no fan of Huawei.
After initially banning US companies from doing business with Huawei back in May over concerns that the Chinese government could use the company to spy on Americans, the US Commerce Department was quick to issue a temporary three-month license to allow Huawei to continue to support its phones and networking equipment.
President Donald Trump has extended his executive order banning US companies from working with or buying telecommunications equipment from companies deemed a national security risk until May 2021 and encouraged other western nations to consider banning the firm.
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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