The U.K. government will ban Huawei from its 5G networks — barring telecom companies from purchasing equipment made by the Chinese firm — in a move that is a sharp u-turn from its previous stance and a major diplomatic win for the Trump administration and the U.S.
KEY FACTS
Network operators in the country will be forced to stop buying hardware from the Chinese telecom equipment maker by the end of the year and will have until 2027 to strip out existing Huawei devices from their infrastructure, U.K. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the parliament.
The move is a reversal from a January decision, which allowed limited use of Huawei equipment in the country’s next-generation 5G mobile networks and angered U.S. President Donald Trump.
The U.K. government had initiated a review of Huawei after sanctions issued on the company by the U.S. in May restricting it from sourcing key components from American suppliers.
Following the sanctions, Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre had determined that Huawei’s equipment could no longer be considered safe as it had to rely on non-US components.
Despite the ban, telecom operators in the country will not be expected to remove older 2G, 3G or 4G equipment made by Huawei.
The U.K government’s decision follows U.S. pressure on European governments to bar Huawei devices from being used in their 5G networks.
“This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the U.K.’s telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy both now and indeed in the long run,” U.K. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the parliament.
£2 billion. That is how much the ban on Huawei would cost the U.K government according to Dowden as it would result in a delay of up to three years in the country’s planned 5G rollout.