Mobile
Huawei has now been banned from installing new 5G equipment in the UK
This has been forming since early 2020.
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In January, the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport announced that it plans to ban all of Huawei’s 5G equipment from the UK’s telecommunication network.
A few months later, in July, the UK government said that all 5G equipment coming from Huawei would need to be removed before 2027. The latest announcement is also in line with those politics. It was announced that from this week, all the UK’s mobile providers are being banned from purchasing any 5G equipment from Huawei after January 2021.
The Chinese ambassador took to Twitter and described the ban as “wrong and disappointing.” Huawei officials didn’t provide a direct response to the recent news. They just reiterated their earlier statements saying that their technology doesn’t pose any security risk.
The official reason why the UK decided to ban Huawei’s 5G equipment was that they see it as a potential security risk. They believe that the company can potentially enable the Chinese government to spy on sensitive communications.
At the same time, UK Primister, Boris Johnson, was under immense pressure from US allies to follow their footsteps and ban 5G equipment from this Chinese vendor. Initially, the UK government allowed the Chinese vendor to have some presence in the UK’s 5G infrastructure. However, it changed its course after a while. They banned Huawei’s 5G equipment in full.
However, to fill the gap made by the ban, the UK government has introduced the “5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy.” This new strategy aims at bringing in new vendors that will help build the UK’s 5G network. The aim is to bring multiple companies so that the country doesn’t rely solely on one or two big telecommunication players. To that end, the UK government has initially allocated $333 million (£250 million) to boost the diversification process and bring new companies into the fold.
Furthermore, the government revealed its plans to create a National Telecoms Lab research facility. It will work closely with Japan’s NEC to market new, open radio, 5G technology.
Renowned telecommunication industry members, such as Vodafone’s CEO, Scott Petty welcomed the new strategy. According to Petty, this will foster both competition and innovation across the country and bring new jobs.
What do you think? Surprised that more countries are banning Huawei? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.
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