UK to ban installation of Huawei 5G equipment in 2021

The UK has taken another step towards remove Huawei from its 5G network. On Sunday, the British government announced that the country’s telecommunications companies You would not be allowed to install new Huawei 5G equipment after September 2021, Bloomberg reported.

According to Bloom berg, although the UK announced in July

that telecommunications providers should remove Huawei equipment from their networks at the end of 2027, tThe new restriction could speed up telecom providers’ plans to review their systems. Telecommunications providers were already banned from purchasing new Huawei 5G equipment from January 2021.

Bloomberg has indicated that telecoms operators will also not be allowed to outsource the management of services to Huawei from April 2021.

“We are taking bold steps to implement one of the strictest telecommunications security regimes in the world,” said Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State. for digital, culture, media and sport, in a guide document posted on sunday. “A central part of this is fighting high-risk vendors, and I have set a clear timeline for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks by 2027.”

Dowden goes on to say that while this move is “the right one,” it leaves the country too dependent on too few suppliers. In particular, British telecommunications operators will have to rely on equipment from European manufacturers Nokia and Ericsson, according to Bloomberg.

The new restriction was announced in conjunction with the UK government’s new 5G supply chain diversification strategy. The £ 250million plan (around $ 333million) aims to develop the country’s telecommunications supply chain while ensuring that it “resists future trends and threats,” according to published advice

for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sports.

The plan will also create new projects and research centers, such as the SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Center, which the government says will create a platform for existing and emerging vendors to test and demonstrate interoperable solutions. In addition, it will also include a test with the Japanese supplier NEC so that the company can test its equipment in the UK market.

The most important will be the new national telecommunications laboratory, a cutting-edge research and development facility that will perform safety, performance and resistance testing of new vendors and technologies, according to the guide.

Earlier this year, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson originally planned to give Huawei a limited role in the country’s 5G infrastructure despite US warnings about Huawei’s risks Student because of its ties to the Chinese government. However, Johnson was forced to change your position after the United States issued new restrictions at Huawei in May who prevented the company and its suppliers of US technology and software use. UK officials said the sanctions meant they could no more Ensure the safety of Huawei products.

Huawei has denied that this poses a security risk and, in a reply

to a report of the British Parliament’s Defense Committee in October, stated that if the country goes ahead with its ban, it will be negatively affected in the end.

“Restricting Huawei will put Britain on the slow lane, widen the digital divide and likely raise bills,” the company said.

[Bloomberg]