UK Bans Deployment of Huawei Technology Over Security Fears

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered Huawei equipment to be removed completely from Britain’s 5G network by 2027.

After the Chinese company had been previously approved to run the UK’s 5G network on a limited basis, the UK’s National Security Council has decided to ban the purchase of 5G components from the end of this year, and ordered the removal of all existing Huawei technology from the 5G network by 2027.

According to Reuters, the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) told ministers it could no longer guarantee the stable supply of Huawei gear after the United States imposed new sanctions on chip technology.

“This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run,” Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) secretary Oliver Dowden told parliament. “By the time of the next election, we will have implemented, in law, an irreversible path for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks.”

Dowden said the decision was made after the US imposed sanctions in May, which forced Huawei to use its own microchips and the NCSC advised ministers that they could no longer guarantee that the risk would be reduced.

The NCSC said Huawei have zero access alternatives which the UK has sufficient confidence in, and new restrictions make it “impossible to continue to guarantee the security of Huawei equipment in the future,” according to deployment huawei technology security fears