UK extends deadline to remove Huawei from 5G networks after one carrier warned of outages
Telcos will now have until December 2023 to remove Huawei equipment, such as that used at phone mast sites and telephone exchanges, from their network “cores” — where some of the most sensitive data is processed. The government had originally ordered them to do so by January.
Meanwhile, a requirement for firms to reduce the level of Huawei equipment in their non-core networks to 35% has been delayed to October 31 2023 — later than an initial July ultimatum.
They will still need to ban new Huawei 5G installments and completely eliminate it from their networks by the end of 2027. The order was enshrined in law last year with a piece of legislation called the Telecoms Security Act.
Prime Minister Liz Truss’s government has sent legal notices to 35 U.K. telecoms network operators to officially enforce the move.
Britain had initially said it would allow Huawei in its rollout of 5G networks. But in 2020, the government opted to ban Huawei over data security concerns. The Shenzhen-based firm was classed as a “high risk” vendor, meaning it posed possible risks to national security.
Officials on either side of the Atlantic are worried Huawei’s technology could allow China to spy on sensitive communications and other data. Huawei has long denied the claims and said moves to block it are “politically motivated.”
That decision was a result of the National Cyber Security Centre’s emergency review of Huawei shortly after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the Chinese giant cutting it off from key semiconductor supplies. The move also came amid an intense trade battle between China and the U.S. — a close ally to the U.K. Read More…
