Huawei kit to be removed from UK

BORIS JOHNSON risked deepening tensions with Beijing after telecoms firms were ordered to strip Chinese tech giant Huawei’s equipment from 5G networks by 2027. The move, which will delay the deployment of 5G technology by up to three years and add billions to the cost, came after the UK’s experts warned that highly restrictive US sanctions meant the security of Huawei’s equipment could not be guaranteed. The decision, taken by the National Security Council (NSC), led to concerns being raised in the Commons about the possibility of retaliation from Beijing but ministers insisted they would not be “cowed” by China.

Huawei said it was disappointed by the move and claimed decisions on its future in the UK had become politicised.

From next year, telecoms firms will be banned from purchasing new 5G equipment from Huawei and will have to remove all the Chinese company’s kit by 2027. They are also expected to be ordered to shift away from the purchase of Huawei’s equipment for full-fibre broadband networks over a period lasting up to two years. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the NSC, chaired by Prime Minister Johnson, yesterday morning.

It followed an assessment of the impact of US sanctions by experts from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). In January, the firm had been given permission to play a limited role in the 5G network but Downing Street insiders said the sanctions imposed in May were a “game changer”.

The restrictions imposed by Donald Trump’s administration removes Huawei’s access to products which have been built based on US semiconductor technology. The NCSC’s technical director Ian Levy said products adapted to cope with the restrictions “are likely to suffer more security and reliability problems because of the massive engineering challenge ahead of them” and it will also be “harder for us to be confident” in their use within the mitigation measures already in place for the “high risk” firm’s equipment.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the decisions taken in relation to Huawei could delay the roll-out of 5G by two to three years and potentially add £2 billion to the overall cost.

There had been a “global market failure” which meant that countries including the UK had become “dangerously reliant on too few vendors” leaving few clear alternatives to Huawei, Mr Dowden said.

The Government had faced pressure from Tory backbenchers for a quicker approach to removing Huawei equipment, but Mr Dowden insisted that the changes would mean that, by the time of the next general election – expected in 2024 – the UK would be on an “irreversible path” to a network free from the firm.

The move takes place as the relationship with Beijing was already under strain over the imposition of a new national security law in Hong Kong.