UK Government Undecided on Huawei 5G

UK Government 'not yet in a position' to decide whether controversial Chinese firm Huawei should be excluded from 5G rollout.

19:38 01 September 2019

UK Government 'not yet in a position' to decide whether controversial Chinese firm Huawei should be excluded from 5G rollout.

 

 

 

Culture secretary Jeremy Wright said the government is not yet ready to make a decision as to whether Huawei should be involved in the deployment of 5G in the country.

 

 

 

The United States recently banned companies from selling components and technology to Huawei citing national security concerns. However, Mr Wright said the implication of the recent US ban on Huawei and 68 related companies on May 15 remains unclear. He added that the US decision "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".

 

 

 

However, MPs urged the government to make a decision on Huawei warning continued delays were damaging international relations.

 

 

 

Huawei has previously denied allegations that its technology is being used by the Chinese government to spy on people.

 

 

 

Victor Zhang, Huawei's vice president is confident "that we can continue to work with network operators to rollout 5G across the UK."

 

 

 

"After 18 years of operating in the UK, we remain committed to supporting BT, EE, Vodafone and other partners build secure, reliable networks."

 

 

 

"The evidence shows excluding Huawei would cost the UK economy £7bn and result in more expensive 5G networks, raising prices for anyone with a mobile device," he added.