UK mulls ‘India among 5G club of countries’
BRITAIN said last Friday (29) it was pushing the United States to form a club of 10 nations that could develop its own 5G technology and reduce dependence on China’s telecoms giant Huawei.
Britain has allowed the Chinese global leader in 5G technology to build up to 35 per cent of the infrastructure necessary to roll out its new speedy data network. But prime minister Boris
Johnson was reported by The Daily Telegraph last month to have instructed officials to draw up plans to cut Huawei out of the network by 2023 as relations with China sour.
The Times newspaper said Britain is proposing a “D10” club of democratic partners that groups the G7 nations with Australia and Asian technology leaders South Korea and India.
It said one of the options involves channelling investments into existing telecommunication companies within the 10 member states. A Downing Street spokesman confirmed that Britain is reaching out to partners in search for an alternative to Huawei.
“We (are) seeking new entrants into the market in order to diversify and that is something we’ve been speaking with our allies about, including the States,” the Downing spokesman said.
Johnson’s decision to include Huawei angered Washington because it believes that the private Chinese company can either spy on Western communications or simply shut down the UK network under orders from Beijing.
The US has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Huawei.
United Street