Security Reasons: Great Britain Halts Cooperation with Chinese Giant Huawei

(Patria) – The British government will not include Huawei in the future 5G network project, announced Minister of Culture Oliver Dowden on Tuesday during a session of the House of Commons.

Following this decision, British telecom operators are obliged to remove all Huawei equipment by 2027, and a ban on the procurement of Huawei equipment will be in effect by the end of this year.

However, this ban will also mean a delay in the implementation of the 5G network by two to three years, with additional costs of around 2 billion pounds.

Dowden also stated that the National Cyber Security Centre conducted a new risk assessment after the US imposed sanctions against the Chinese technology giant.

- Given the uncertainty (caused by sanctions) regarding Huawei's supply chain, Great Britain cannot be sure that it will be able to guarantee the security of future Huawei equipment for the 5G network, Dowden said.

US officials had previously warned their British counterparts about the security risks associated with this Chinese company. In May, the US imposed new sanctions against the company, thereby also banning the use of American software.

The decision announced by the British government on Tuesday represents a reversal from an earlier decision to allow Huawei to access (larger) parts of the planned 5G network.

Opposition MPs criticized the government for not banning Huawei's access much earlier:

- It has been clear for some time that there are serious concerns about allowing Huawei to control large parts of our telecom networks, but the government has refused to face reality, said opposition minister Chi Onwurah. She added that 'their approach to issues of our 5G capacity, Huawei, and our national security has been incomprehensibly negligent', and also questioned whether the US is now advising British security policy.

John Nicholson from the Scottish National Party commented that 'the price of the government's incompetence will have to be paid'.

Some MPs believe that cooperation with Huawei should have been terminated much earlier, but Dowden insisted that the deadline is 'realistic', the British Guardian reports.