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UK excludes Huawei from 5G network

2020-07-15T17:09:27.313Z


Putting forward a security risk and under American pressure, London has decided to ban the Chinese giant of TV equipment


If France has not completely banished Huawei from its 5G network, the British government, on Tuesday, excluded the Chinese giant of telecom equipment because of a risk for the security of the country. A hardening of position which risks exacerbating tensions with Beijing.

The purchase of new Huawei equipment will be banned from the end of 2020 and existing equipment will have to be removed by 2027, Minister responsible for Culture and Digital Affairs, Oliver Dowden, announced to the House of Commons at the from a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) chaired by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"The best way to secure our network is for operators to stop using Huawei equipment to build the future British 5G network," said the minister. London has been under heavy pressure for months from the Trump administration, which accuses Huawei of spying on behalf of Beijing, which the Chinese group denies.

According to Oliver Dowden, the British decision was influenced by the American sanctions imposed in May on the Chinese giant, intended to cut Huawei's access to semiconductors made from American components.

Despite several warnings from Washington, London had allowed the Chinese telecoms giant in January to build up to 35% of the non-strategic infrastructure necessary to deploy the country's new 5G network.

But faced with the grumbling of the United States and of conservative deputies, the government had suggested that it would harden its position, highlighting the security risk that the presence of the equipment manufacturer in its infrastructures could represent.

"Digital strategy will be affected"

The bosses of the telephone operators, such as BT and Vodafone, warned that a total withdrawal of Huawei equipment from the British network would be "impossible" within ten years and would risk causing breakdowns and security problems.

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Huawei said last week that its exclusion would affect "the future of the UK's digital strategy [...]", saying a two-year delay would cost its economy £ 29 billion (roughly £ 32 billion). 'euros at current price). Boris Johnson had made the improvement of the British telecom network a campaign promise.

Relations between the United Kingdom and China have already strained in recent weeks with the entry into force of a controversial security law, imposed by Beijing in Hong Kong and denounced by London.

Downing Street has promised to extend immigration rights, and ultimately access to British citizenship, for millions of residents of its ex-colony, a measure denounced by China as "gross interference" in his internal affairs.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2020-07-15

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