Yahoo Finance Government dodges decision on Huawei 5G ban
A final decision on the role Huawei can play in building Britain’s 5G mobile networks will be left to the new prime minister, MPs were told this evening.
Culture secretary and digital minister Jeremy Wright said it would be wrong to make specific decisions on Huawei while the US position on the Chinese company remained unclear.
“These measures could have a potential impact on the future availability and reliability of Huawei’s products, together with other market impacts, and so are relevant considerations in determining Huawei’s involvement in the network,” he told the Commons.
Mr Wright said he had recently sought clarity on the “extent and implications” of recent US moves to block Huawei, referring to the decision earlier this year by the Trump administration to blacklist the Chinese company, before appearing to row back on that position, by agreeing to allow American companies to sell some parts to Huawei.
This meant the Government could not yet decide how much “involvement Huawei should have in the provision of the UK’s 5G network”, Mr Wright said.
However, he said it would be “unnecessary and unwise to delay the introduction of the remainder of the Telecoms Supply Chain Review’s Conclusions”, given 5G services will be launched this year.
The review, released this evening, set out plans to establish a new framework, requiring telecoms operators to assess and manage risks from their suppliers “appropriately” and providing Ofcom with more powers to ensure the security of the networks was robust.
It also encouraged phone networks to use multiple suppliers to build the backbones of their networks – a recommendation welcomed by security experts. Professor Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey said: “Having a single vendor would be bonkers.”
However, Dr Andrew Foxall at the Henry Jackson Society told The Telegraph: "This announcement does little but kick the can down the road. This Government has had months to make its decision, but it has failed to use one of its last acts to protect British security."
Huawei has repeatedly denied all suggestions that it poses a security threat.
