Prime
Minister Boris Johnson ordered Huawei equipment to be purged completely from
Britain’s 5G network by the end of 2027, risking the ire of China by signalling
that the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker is not welcome in the West.
As Britain
prepares to cast off from the European Union, fears over the security of Huawei
have forced Johnson to choose between global rivals — the United States and
China.
He had been
under intense pressure from US President Donald Trump, while Beijing had
warned London, which has sought to court China in recent years, that billions
in investment would be at risk if it sided with Washington.
Reversing a
January decision to
allow Huawei to supply up to 35 per cent of the non-core 5G network, Johnson
banned British telecoms operators from buying any 5G equipment from Huawei by
year-end and gave them seven years to rip out existing gear.
“This
has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms
networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the
long run,” digital minister Oliver Dowden told parliament.
“By the time
of the next election, we will have implemented in law an irreversible path for
the complete removal of Huawei equipment from our 5G networks.”
The reason
given for the about-turn was the impact of new US sanctions on chip technology,
which Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, part of the GCHQ eavesdropping
agency, had told ministers meant Huawei was not a reliable supplier.
Tuesday’s
decision will delay the roll-out of 5G — cast as the nervous system of the
future economy — by two to three years, and add costs of up to 2 billion pounds
($2.5 billion).
The Dec 31,
2027 deadline will please British telecoms operators such as BT, Vodafone and
Three, which had feared they would be forced to spend billions of pounds to rip
out Huawei equipment much faster.
Shares in BT,
Britain’s biggest mobile operator, rose 4pc.
5G proxy war?
Hanging up on
Huawei marks an end to what former Prime Minister David Cameron cast as a
“golden era” of ties which saw Britain pushed as Europe’s top destination for
Chinese capital.
But London
has been dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong and the perception that China did
not tell the whole truth over the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“It threatens
to move Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the
digital divide,” a spokesman said.
In what some
have compared to the Cold War antagonism with the Soviet Union, the United
States is worried that 5G dominance could lead towards Chinese technological
supremacy.
After
Australia first raised alarms about the risk of 5G being hijacked by a hostile
state, the West has become steadily more worried about Huawei.
The United
States calls the company an agent of the Chinese Communist state — a view
widely supported in Johnson’s own Conservative Party. Huawei denies it spies
for China and says the United States wants to frustrate its growth because no
US company offers the same technology at a competitive price.
Huawei alternative?
British
ministers say the rise to global dominance of Huawei, founded in 1987 by a
former People’s Liberation Army engineer, has caught the West off-guard.
Dowden said
Britain was working with its intelligence allies to foster a group of rivals to
Huawei, naming firms from Finland, Sweden, South Korea and Japan.
“The first
thing we need to do is ensure that we protect the other two vendors in this
market, so Nokia, and Ericsson,” Dowden said. “Secondly we need to get new
suppliers in, that starts with Samsung, and it starts with NEC.”
Nokia and
Ericsson said they stood ready to replace Huawei gear.
By allowing
Huawei’s equipment to remain in the 5G network until end-2027 and in older
mobile networks, Johnson stopped short of demands from some lawmakers for a ban
in four years.
China has
said targeting its technology flagship would have far-reaching ramifications,
and its ambassador to London warned last week that a U-turn on Huawei would
send a bad message to other Chinese businesses.
Chinese
imports to Britain doubled in the 15 years to 2018, to about 9pc of all goods
imported, worth 43 billion pounds.
Huawei said
the decision was more about US trade policy than security.
