And Oliver Dowden, briefing members of the House of Commons in London, also said that devices purchased from Huawei that were already built into the UK’s 5G network should be removed from telecoms systems by the end of 2027. Dowden said the government had decided that Huawei products should be banned from The UK’s 5G network based on US sanctions against the Chinese company and revised guidelines from its cybersecurity experts.
The minister also said that until the UK’s next parliamentary election in 2024, the British government would “irreversibly” make it mandatory in law to completely remove Huawei products from UK 5G networks, and those networks would be “Huawei-free” by the end of 2027.
Intervention of the Americans
Duden explained American The Commerce Department imposed new sanctions on Huawei on May 15, and this was an important moment for the British government to take into account. He added that this is not the first time that the United States has tried to prevent Huawei suppliers from participating in the rollout of 5G networks. However, the British minister said this was the first US punishment likely to seriously affect Huawei’s ability to sell new equipment in the UK. According to Oliver Dowden, the US action prevents Huaweit from manufacturing and importing products made using US technology and software.
The UK’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) has significantly reassessed the security risks posed by Huawei’s presence in 5G networks in the UK as a result of the US action. In a briefing to the House of Representatives on Tuesday, the minister said that given the uncertainty this creates in Huawei’s supplier network, the National Civil Service believes Britain can no longer be sure that it will be able to guarantee the security of Huawei equipment used in 5G networks in the future.
It was a difficult decision
Dowden said the British government had not taken a soft-line to ban Huawei, as it calculated that measures banning the merger of the Chinese company’s products and the removal of Huawei devices already installed would delay the UK’s 5G network by two to three years. Development costs could increase by up to 2 billion pounds (785 billion forints).
As early as January, the British government ruled that the Chinese company, as a “high-risk supplier”, could not provide equipment for the security-sensitive central elements of Britain’s 5G program and could provide only 35 percent of the equipment needed to build terminal access elements.
London’s action at the time also prevented Huawei from building elements of the UK’s 5G network that would be in “sensitive” geographic locations, such as military bases or nuclear power plants.
Another tightening
Tuesday’s announcement by the head of the Department for Digital Development will further tighten those measures, and effectively prevent Huaweit from developing a 5G network in the UK from around the time from next year.
London has come under heavy pressure from the US government in recent months to prevent Huawei from participating in the UK’s 5G network at all. The United States believes the company poses a national security risk because it has a direct relationship with the Chinese government.
According to unconfirmed British media reports, the US government also envisioned that if London gave Huawei access to building Britain’s 5G network, the US would remove Britain from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
Five Eyes coordinates intelligence and response services for the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
think again
Huawei Technologies asks UK government to reconsider decision – Edward Brewster, spokesperson for Huawei Technologies UK, told MTI that the UK government’s decision not to buy equipment from China’s tech giant Huawei from 2021 to build a 5G mobile network in China UK, hardware. They should be removed from telecoms systems purchased from Huawei already built into the UK’s 5G network by the end of 2027.
The spokesman said the decision was disappointing and bad news for all UK mobile phone users. It threatens to put the country in a digital bind, increasing costs and deepening the digital divide.
“Instead of taking a step, the government has decided to back off, so we ask you to think about it again. We remain confident that the latest US sanctions will not affect the durability and safety of our products shipped to the UK,” a government spokesman said. As for Huawei MTI, according to a press release sent to it on Tuesday.
The spokesman said Huawei’s future was politicized in the UK, the issue is about US trade policy, not security. “We are preparing a detailed analysis of today’s announcement, showing what all of this means for our business and working to clarify to the UK government how Huawei can continue to contribute to a more connected UK,” said Edward Brewster.
