Britain ‘may need to ban other 5G parts made in China’

A BAN on Chinese-made 5G parts may be needed if companies don’t create their own supply following the removal of Huawei, a GCHQ chief has warned.

Dr Ian Levy, technical developer for the National Cyber Security Centre arm of the security agency, told MPS that a “market cap” may need to be introduced on kit from “high-risk vendors” if trusted suppliers cannot fill the void left by the decision to remove all Huawei elements from the UK network by 2027.

His remarks come as an Australian ambassador said his country had also banned Huawei because letting it into 5G infrastructure was akin to “handing over the keys to the car”.

The Government banned the Chinese company from the UK network earlier this year over fears that its kit could be exploited by the state’s security services. Chinese laws mandate that its firms must cooperate with the security service if ordered to do so.

Appearing before the science and technology committee yesterday, Dr Levy was asked if there was not still a threat to the UK if many of the parts used by the remaining 5G vendors, such as Nokia and Ericsson, were still made or assembled in China.

Mr Levy said the risk was far reduced if the components were designed and manufactured in the West and only assembled or partly manufactured in high-risk countries.

He said that a cap was not yet needed and the agency wanted to see how the market reacted in the wake of the ban.

Meanwhile, Dr Tobias Feakin, an Australian ambassador for cyber affairs, told MPS his country had opted to ban Huawei in 2018 as it was harder to limit risky components to “peripheral” parts of a 5G network.