UK Announces Ban on Huawei Equipment from 5G Network
The move follows significant pressure by the US on the UK and other allies to ban Huawei from their 5G networks, claiming that the company is a threat to national security
IsraelDefense
| 15/07/2020
Photo: Bigstock
By Lidar Gravé-Lazi
The UK government announced on Tuesday that Huawei equipment should be completely removed from Britain's 5G network by 2027.
As part of the ban, telecom operators will no longer be able to buy Chinese company Huawei equipment beginning January 2021 and existing Huawei 5G equipment will need to be completely removed by 2027.
UK Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden announced the ban to the House of Commons on Tuesday and said it was a difficult decision but was ultimately the right one for the UK. He said the move would delay the rollout of 5G technology in the country by around two years at a cost of some nearly 2 billion pounds.
The move follows significant pressure by the US on the UK and other allies to ban Huawei from their 5G networks, claiming that the company is a threat to national security.
"We convinced many countries, many countries - and I did this myself for the most part - not to use Huawei because we think it's an unsafe security risk, it's a big security risk," US President Donald Trump said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
In May the US administration announced new sanctions on Huawei, claiming the company provides an avenue for China to spy on countries - a claim that Huawei has repeatedly denied.
In a statement, Huawei called the decision "disappointing" and said it was "bad news" for anyone in the UK with a cell phone. The company threatened that this would "move Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the digital divide" and urged the British government to reconsider.
The company added that was confident that the recent US sanctions would not have affected "the resilience or security" of the company’s ability to provide products to the UK.
“Regrettably our future in the UK has become politicized, this is about US trade policy and not security," the statement read.
The move follows significant pressure by the US on the UK and other allies to ban Huawei from their 5G networks, claiming that the company is a threat to national security
Photo: Bigstock
By Lidar Gravé-Lazi
The UK government announced on Tuesday that Huawei equipment should be completely removed from Britain's 5G network by 2027.
As part of the ban, telecom operators will no longer be able to buy Chinese company Huawei equipment beginning January 2021 and existing Huawei 5G equipment will need to be completely removed by 2027.
UK Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden announced the ban to the House of Commons on Tuesday and said it was a difficult decision but was ultimately the right one for the UK. He said the move would delay the rollout of 5G technology in the country by around two years at a cost of some nearly 2 billion pounds.
The move follows significant pressure by the US on the UK and other allies to ban Huawei from their 5G networks, claiming that the company is a threat to national security.
"We convinced many countries, many countries - and I did this myself for the most part - not to use Huawei because we think it's an unsafe security risk, it's a big security risk," US President Donald Trump said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
In May the US administration announced new sanctions on Huawei, claiming the company provides an avenue for China to spy on countries - a claim that Huawei has repeatedly denied.
In a statement, Huawei called the decision "disappointing" and said it was "bad news" for anyone in the UK with a cell phone. The company threatened that this would "move Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the digital divide" and urged the British government to reconsider.
The company added that was confident that the recent US sanctions would not have affected "the resilience or security" of the company’s ability to provide products to the UK.
“Regrettably our future in the UK has become politicized, this is about US trade policy and not security," the statement read.
