THE UK\u2019s mobile providers are being banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December, and they must also remove all the Chinese firm\u2019s 5G kit from their networks by 2027.<\/p>\n
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons of the decision.<\/p>\n
It follows sanctions imposed by Washington, which claims the firm poses a national security threat \u2013 something Huawei denies.
\nMr Dowden said the move would delay the country\u2019s 5G rollout by a year.<\/p>\n
He added that the cumulative cost of this, and earlier restrictions announced against Huawei earlier in the year, would be up to \u00a32bn.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Because the US sanctions only affect future equipment, the government does not believe there is a security justification for removing 2G, 3G and 4G equipment supplied by Huawei.
\nHuawei said the move was: \u201cbad news for anyone in the UK with a mobile phone\u201d and threatened to \u201cmove Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the digital divide\u201d.<\/p>\n
New restrictions are also being applied to use of the company\u2019s broadband kit.
\nThe government wants operators to \u201ctransition away\u201d from purchasing new Huawei equipment for use in the full-fibre network.<\/p>\n
Mr Dowden said he expected this to happen within two years.<\/p>\n
He explained that additional time was being provided for broadband to avoid the UK becoming dependent on Nokia as the single supplier of some equipment.
\nChip concerns The UK last reviewed Huawei\u2019s role in its telecoms infrastructure in January, when it was decided to let the firm remain a supplier but introduced a cap on its market share.<\/p>\n
But in May the US introduced new sanctions designed to disrupt Huawei\u2019s ability to get its own chips manufactured.<\/p>\n
This led security officials to conclude they could no longer assure the security of its products if the company had to start sourcing chips from third-parties for use in its equipment.
\nThe minister cited a review carried out by GCHQ\u2019s National Cyber Security Centre as being the motivation for the changes.
\n\u201cHuawei claims to have stockpiles of parts that they can use, but this obviously affects what the NCSC can say about their products going forward,\u201d blogged Dr Ian Levy, the agency\u2019s technical director.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that Huawei products that are adapted to cope with the [sanctions] are likely to suffer more security and reliability problems because of the massive engineering challenge ahead of them, and it will be harder for us to be confident in their use within our mitigation strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n
But other political considerations are also likely to have also come into play including the UK\u2019s desire to strike a trade deal with the US, and growing tensions with China over its handling of the coronavirus outbreak and its treatment of Hong Kong.
\nSome backbench Tory MPs had pressed for a shorter time-span for its removal, in particular there had been calls for the 5G ban to come into effect before the next election in May 2024.
\nHowever, Mr Dowden said that \u201cthe shorter we make the timetable for removal, the greater the risk of actual disruption to mobile phone networks\u201d.<\/p>\n
BT and Vodafone had warned that customers could face mobile blackouts if they were forced to remove all of Huawei\u2019s 5G kit in less time.<\/p>\n
Chairman resigns
\nHuawei says it employs about 1,600 people in the UK and claims to be one of Britain\u2019s largest sources of investment from China.
\nThe firm \u2013 whose shares are not publicly traded \u2013 does not provide a regional breakdown of its earnings. But on Monday, it announced a 13% rise in sales for the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, totalling 454bn yuan ($64.8bn; \u00a351.3bn).<\/p>\n
The UK will have accounted for a fraction of that. The firm\u2019s UK chief recently noted that Huawei had only deployed a total of 20,000 base stations in the UK so far, but by contrast expects to deliver a total of 500,000 globally this year.<\/p>\n
Even so, what the firm fears and Washington hopes is that other countries will now follow Westminster\u2019s lead with bans of their own.<\/p>\n
Despite there seeming little chance of a U-turn, Huawei said it was still urging UK ministers to reconsider.
\n\u201cWe will conduct a detailed review of what today\u2019s announcement means for our business here and will work with the UK government to explain how we can continue to contribute to a better connected Britain,\u201d spokesman Ed Brewster said.
\nShortly before the announcement Sky News revealed that Lord Browne, Huawei\u2019s UK chairman and the ex-chief executive of BP, would be leaving the Chinese company before his term had expired. It said he had given his notice a few days ago and would formally step down in September.<\/p>\n
Lord Browne had led efforts to improve the company\u2019s image in the UK and had tried to prevent a ban.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has been central to our commitment here dating back 20 years, and we thank him for his valuable contribution,\u201d said Huawei, confirming the report.<\/p>\n
Huawei\u2019s UK research bases
\nOne consequence of shunning Huawei is that it might lead the company to rethink its research and development investments in the country.<\/p>\n
The firm has sponsored work at several universities including Imperial College, London, Southampton and Surrey.
\nIn addition, it operates research centres of its own employing a total of 400 people in:
\n\u2022 Edinburgh
\n\u2022 Bristol
\n\u2022 Cambridge
\n\u2022 Ipswich
\nThe company also recently gained planning permission to build a new \u00a31bn research centre at Sawston \u2013 a large village to the south of Cambridge. It has said the development would create hundreds of further jobs.<\/p>\n
But one expert said the new restrictions might not mean the project will be abandoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe research centre in Cambridge has been many years in the planning, and may well be its future sourcing of important technologies within the global supply chain, so Huawei might want to keep it if it is allowed,\u201d said Emily Taylor from the Chatham House think tank.<\/p>\n
Where is Huawei\u2019s kit used in UK?
\nMobile networks can be divided into two parts: the core and the radio access network (Ran).<\/p>\n
The core is likened to the brain and carries out the most sensitive operations, including authenticating users\u2019 identities and making sure calls get sent to the right radio tower to connect to another person\u2019s phone.
\nThe Ran includes the base stations and antennas used to provide a link between individual mobile devices and the core. Insiders sometimes describe this as the \u201cinnovative but dumb\u201d part of the network.
\nBT\u2019s EE mobile network features Huawei in the core of its 4G and 5G networks, but the firm is in the process of replacing it with Ericsson\u2019s products, and has promised to do so by the end of 2023.
\nOtherwise, the UK\u2019s main mobile providers only use Huawei in the Ran, and then always as part of a mix with at least one other vendor:
\n\u2022 EE to provide 2G, 4G and 5G
\n\u2022 Vodafone to provide 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G
\n\u2022 Three to provide 4G and 5G
\n\u2022 O2 to provide 5G at a relatively small number of sites in London, where it tested the equipment before opting to go with other suppliers elsewhere
\nHuawei also provides broadband equipment to BT\u2019s Openreach division, which owns the infrastructure used by other internet service providers (ISP), including Plusnet, Sky and TalkTalk.
\nThese days, the focus is on rolling out fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections, which offer the fastest speeds and are key to delivering the government\u2019s \u201cgigabit for all\u201d 2025 pledge.
\nIn this case, Openreach uses Huawei\u2019s kit at what it calls the \u201cheadend\u201d \u2013 a gateway at local telephone exchanges that converts electrical signals to and from light-based ones, and makes sure each customer\u2019s data is sent to the appropriate ISP.
\nMany people still get their internet via slower connections, which are routed via intermediary street cabinets.
\nAbout 70,000 of these cabinets contain Huawei\u2019s kit, and the data also passes through more of the Chinese firm\u2019s products at local exchanges.
\nOpenreach does not, however, use Huawei\u2019s equipment in its core.
\nElsewhere, CityFibre \u2013 which runs its own smaller full-fibre networks \u2013 uses some Huawei gear as a legacy of an acquisition, but intends to strip it out by mid-2021.
\nVirgin Media does not use Huawei\u2019s equipment within its broadband network.<\/p>\n
But it does use it to provide telephone services, both for internet-based landline calls as well as to provide mobile phone subscriptions.<\/p>\n
Other mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) \u2013 including Sky Mobile and GiffGaff \u2013 also use Huawei\u2019s gear.
\nIt effectively sits between each MVNO and the mobile network whose infrastructure is used, and helps calculate customer bills, among other IT services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE UK\u2019s mobile providers are being banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December, and they must also remove all the Chinese firm\u2019s 5G kit from their networks by 2027. Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden told the House of Commons of the decision. It follows sanctions imposed by Washington, which claims the firm poses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":16706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[792,439],"class_list":{"0":"post-25308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-miscellaneous","9":"tag-china-zimbabwe-relations","10":"tag-uk"},"yoast_head":"\n