Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government will ban Huawei from Britain’s 5G network by ordering telecoms companies to remove its equipment by 2027, Media Secretary Oliver Dowden said on Tuesday.
Operators will not be able to purchase 5G components from Huawei from the end of this year and were told to remove all existing Huawei gear made by the Chinese telecoms behemoth from the 5G network by 2027.
“The NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) has now reported to ministers, that they have significantly changed their security assessment of Huawei‘s presence in the UK’s 5g network,” Dowden told the House of Commons after Johnson chaired a meeting of Britain’s National Security Council (NSC).
Huawei said Britain’s “disappointing” decision to ban the use of its equipment in its 5G networks was “bad news for anyone in the UK with a mobile phone” and threatened to put the country into the digital slow lane.
It urged the government to reconsider.
“We remain confident that the new US restrictions would not have affected the resilience or security of the products we supply to the UK,” a spokesman said.
Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia is ready to replace Huawei equipment in Britain, the head of Nokia Britain said on Tuesday following the UK’s decision to stop using the Chinese manufacturer.
“We have the capacity and expertise to replace all of the Huawei equipment in the UK’s networks at scale and speed, and are ready to step up to support the implementation of the UK government decision with minimal impact on the people using our customers’ networks,” Cormac Whelan said.
Reuters / Sky News / Independent UK
