The UK could start removing Huawei devices from the country’s 5G network earlier this year.
Angela Lang / CNET
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to remove Huawei devices from UK 5G networks this year, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. The UK’s National Cybersecurity Center concluded that US sanctions against the competitive Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer will result in the company being forced to use untrustworthy technologies, leading to security risks, a source told the news agency.
Johnson approved Huawei for 5G in the UK in January under certain conditions. The UK restrictions are to exclude Huawei from building core parts of the UK’s 5G networks, limit Huawei’s market share to 35%, and exclude Huawei from sensitive geographic locations.
Huawei’s 5G approval came there, even though the U.S. asked the UK to ban the Chinese telecommunications giant.
Huawei was blacklisted by the United States in May 2019 when it was added to the United States’ Entity List (PDF). At the same time, President Donald Trump signed an implementing regulation that essentially bans the company because of national security concerns that Huawei maintains close ties with the Chinese government. Huawei has repeatedly denied this charge.
Neither Huawei nor Johnson’s office responded immediately to requests for comments.