UK Telcom companies have up to 2027 to remove all Huawei 5G equipment in their networks following the country’s ban on the company’s kits. Telecom operators are banned from buying Huawei equipment from the end of this year, following concerns of national security.
This decision intensifies an earlier stance in January, which Britain allowed the use of Huawei 5G equipment on a limited basis. Britain Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden warns that the move will delay the UK’s 5G rollout by 2-3 years, and cost the country about £2 billion.
“The best way to secure our networks is for operators to stop using new affected Huawei equipment to build the UK’s future 5G networks. To be clear, from the end of this year, Telecom operators must not buy any 5G equipment from Huawei,” said Secretary Dowden. “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.”
The country will also pass the Telecom Security bill, which makes it illegal for telecoms to use the Chinese company’s equipment for 5G.
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Huawei has warned that the ban will slow down Britain’s 5G journey, saying that the decision was political rather than a business one.
The UK joins six countries that have excluded the Chinese company from their 5G market, namely; the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Italy and Denmark. Germany, France and India continue to enforce partial exclusion while Spain and Portugal remain undecided.
Canada is slowly approaching a similar stance, with advocacy groups calling for stricter measures on China. Three major telecom companies in Canada already said they would not build their 5G networks around Huawei, showing support to western concerns towards national security.
New Players to Replace Huawei 5G equipment
The ban will leave room for other players to take over efforts to push 5G in the UK. Ericcson and Nokia issued statements showing their readiness to scale 5G efforts in the country.
“We have the capacity and expertise to replace all of the Huawei equipment in the UK’s networks at scale and speed… with minimal impact on the people using our customers’ networks,” BBC quoted Nokia.
Nevertheless, there are worries that Ericsson and Nokia manufacture some of their 5G equipment in China. However, Ericsson says that manufacturing in China does not affect its operations or impact the company.
