5G security fears if UK bins Huawei
RIPPING Huawei out of Britain’s telecoms network within the next decade is impossible, BT’s boss says.
Philip Jansen warned of “outages” and security risks if the sector was told to curtail all business with the Chinese technology giant.
The Government is set to say no new equipment from the Chinese firm can be installed after 2021 and that all its existing 5G kit must be removed by 2025.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden is believed poised to make a ruling today.
Tory MPs and ex-security chiefs fear Huawei is part of the Chinese state and could spy on the UK. Boris Johnson chairs a National Security Council meeting and is set to make a final decision.
Downing
Street ordered a review after US sanctions were imposed, disrupting Huawei’s chip making.
UK officials fear this will curb their ability to vet Huawei’s products before they are used.
But Mr Jansen, BT chief executive, said: “Huawei has been in the telecoms infrastructure for about 20 years and a big supplier to BT and many others in the UK.
“If you want to have no Huawei in telecoms infrastructure across the whole of the UK, that’s impossible to do in under 10 years.”
The industry would want to be given a seven-year window to rip out Huawei from the 5G network but Mr Jansen admitted: “We could probably do it in five.”
But he added: “We need to make sure any change of direction doesn’t lead to more risk in the short-term.
The latest warnings come amid fears China could sponsor cyber attacks on the UK if Huawei is banned.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab claims Russia, China and Iran have targeted the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic, trying to steal vaccine research.
Ryan McCarthy, US Secretary of the Army, last night warned the Huawei decision “is something that could become a tremendous threat to national security”.
The Trump administration has repeatedly urged Britain and her allies to ban Huawei’s operations.