‘Huawei may build part of 5g network in UK, but not core infrastructure’

According to the newspaper The Telegraph, British Prime Minister Theresa May, as chairman of the National Security Council, has decided that Huawei will not be completely excluded from the construction of 5G. However, the Chinese company should not be involved in the core infrastructure of the 5G network.

The Telegraph reports that this decision means that Huawei will at least be allowed to install and build certain parts of the network, such as antennas and other parts that are not part of the core infrastructure. According to the newspaper, Theresa May is not only going against the wishes of the United States, but also against the views of most of its most experienced ministers. They would still believe that Huawei equipment in the 5G network poses a risk to national security and therefore consider a complete ban in place.

The Guardian confirms this news and says it has heard from sources that Huawei has been given the green light to supply certain 5G technology to British telecom companies, but that core infrastructure has been excluded. Neither Theresa May’s government nor the National Security Council has made any official statement on this issue; it is unknown when the decision will be formally announced. That will probably take at least a few more days, partly because Philip Hammond, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, will attend an investment forum in Beijing in a few days. It is assumed that this decision will not go down well with China and Huawei.

British intelligence is said to have previously concluded that the risk to national security is manageable if 5G equipment from the Chinese company were used. However, the government also later released a report stating that Huawei has made no progress in addressing cryptographic flaws and changing default passwords in UK telecom networks. The latter concerns the current networks, in which Huawei played a role in the construction.