Britain bans Huawei from 5G network

Britain has banned Huawei from the country’s new 5G mobile networks to protect critical systems from potential Chinese security threats.

British Media Secretary Oliver Dowden told the Commons ‘this has not been an easy decision’’. Picture: AFP

Britain has banned Huawei Technologies from the country’s new 5G mobile networks to protect critical communication systems from potential Chinese security threats.

The government announced on Monday night (Tuesday AEST) that British phone companies cannot add new Huawei components to 5G networks by the end of year.

As well, British telecom companies have to remove all existing Huawei equipment, already deeply involved in the 3G and 4G networks, by 2027.

China has already foreshadowed the decision would have ‘’consequences’’.

Media Secretary Oliver Dowden told the Commons “this has not been an easy decision’’, saying it would delay the rollout of 5G by two to three years and cost up to £2bn.

Mr Dowden said the situation had come about because of a global market failure that was dangerously reliant on too few vendors. He said the National Security Council had upgraded its advice about using Huawei after the US legislated that the company could no longer use American equipment.

Mr Dowden said “the UK is acting quickly, decisively and ahead of international partners’’.

He also addressed the country’s wider relationship with China. ‘’This government is clear-eyed about China,’’ he said, noting Britain’s visa offer to Hong Kong citizens and robust response to new security laws in Hong Kong.

“We want a modern, mature relationship with China, to speak frankly when we disagree and work side by side where our interests converge.

“Today’s decision ensures long-term security, especially in light of new US sanctions.’’

The reversal of Huawei’s involvement in Britain’s 5G network comes amid escalating tensions between the UK and China, and warnings about the security threat posed by China issued by other Five Eyes intelligence nations, Australia and the US.

Boris Johnson’s backbenchers forced the government’s hand to reverse a decision made in January to allow Huawei as much as 35 per cent access to the 5G network.

The UK eased the ban out to 2027, after British telecoms companies said removing the Huawei equipment earlier would be expensive and time-consuming.

The backbenchers, who said the government’s use of Huawei was “like an addiction to heroin’’, had secured enough numbers to topple the government’s 80-vote majority in any future vote on ­Huawei involvement.

In March, a Whitehall parliamentary committee was even read a 2018 excerpt from Mike Burgess, the Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate, who said “a potential threat anywhere in the network will be a threat to the whole network’’.

The key pressure point was that new US sanctions on Huawei meant it could no longer use US technology in its chips, escalating security concerns about the Chinese company using its own chips.

Bob Seely, a Tory MP and member of the foreign affairs committee, said before the decision that “Huawei is part and parcel of the Chinese state. It is a ‘high-risk’ vendor in the UK’s infrastructure.

“There should be no place for it in the UK.”