Britain bans China’s Huawei for 5G services

LONDON: United Kingdom bowed to growing US pressure and ordered the phased removal of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from its 5G network.

The policy reversal hands a long-sought victory to US President Donald Trump’s administration against China who warned of retaliation over the move.

The White House said the decision “reflects a growing international consensus that Huawei and other untrusted vendors pose a threat to national security, as they remain beholden to the Chinese Communist Party”.

The move threatens to further damage Britain’s ties with China and carries a huge cost for UK mobile providers that have relied on Huawei equipment for nearly 20 years. Huawei called it “politicised” and likely to put Britain “in the digital slow lane”.

China’s ambassador in London, Liu Xiaoming, called it a “disappointing and wrong decision”. “It has become questionable whether the UK can provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for companies from other countries,” he wrote on Twitter.

The change in Britain’s digital future was made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a meeting with his cabinet and National Security Council. It requires companies to stop buying new 5G equipment from Huawei starting next year and phase out existing gear by the end of 2027.

Johnson infuriated Trump and some members of his own party by allowing the Chinese leader in global 5G technology to help roll out Britain’s speedy new data network in January.

The UK was then completing its tortuous departure from the European Union and looking to establish strong ties with powerful Asian economies that could fulfil Johnson’s vision of a “Global Britain”.

The Trump administration told the UK government that its choice imperilled intelligence sharing because British signals could be intercepted or manipulated by China.

Johnson had come under intensifying pressure to dump Huawei but he has also pledged to voters last year to bring broadband access to all Britons by 2025.

British telecoms companies had lobbied strongly against the policy reversal because of the cost of taking existing equipment out and finding untested alternatives. Johnson has challenged the Trump administration to come up with a reliable and cost-effective alternative to the Chinese firm.

Britain is pushing for the creation of a 5G club of nations that can pool their resources and provide individual components for an alternative solution that could be applied across the world.

The UK government said the process would begin with Samsung and Japan’s NEC — two veterans with broad production capabilities — while offering protection for Nokia and Ericsson to ensure they remained viable players in the field.