UK Government to Ban Huawei 5G Products by 2027

As expected, the UK government has decided to remove “high-risk” 5G vendors linked to the Chinese government. This change in policy is influenced by the fact that the United States recently imposed tougher sanctions on Huawei.

British digital minister Oliver Dowden has told parliament that the new policy will require telecom companies to buy 5G equipment from Huawei and ZTE to build new networks from the end of 2020. I explained that it was forbidden. Equipment from such companies already in use in the UK's 5G network must be phased out by 2027.

Legislation to put this policy into practice will be entrusted to Congress, but there is a possibility that it will meet opposition from lawmakers seeking a more hasty exclusion of Huawei products.

On July 13, telecom company BT warned that the hasty removal of Huawei products already in use could create mobile communication disruptions and security risks, delaying the government's pledged upgrade of the UK's fiber broadband network. warned that there would be BT CEO Philip Jansen said he thought seven years would be the ideal period to eliminate existing Huawei 5G products, and the government has taken the best-case scenario. Become. Even so, there are additional costs for building next-generation networks.

Mr Dowden acknowledged that the new policy will delay the rollout of the UK's 5G network, but insisted the government is prioritizing security over the economy.

"Since January 2020, the situation has clearly changed. On May 15, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced changes to the Foreign Direct Products Regulations, imposing new sanctions on Huawei. It was a pretty big change in terms of parts and something we had to consider," he told parliament.

"These sanctions are not the first attempt by the United States to restrict Huawei from supplying equipment for its 5G network. However, they have had a significant impact on Huawei's ability to supply new equipment in the UK. The latest U.S. actions limit Huawei's ability to use U.S. technology and software to produce critical products."

Dowden said the National Cyber ​​Security Center had reviewed the new US sanctions and made a "substantial" change to its security rating as a result. The government also said it would release a summary of the advice that led to the change in policy.

"Given the uncertainty about Huawei's supply chain, the UK can no longer be sure it can guarantee the security of future Huawei 5G equipment affected by US foreign direct product rule changes." added Dowden.

The Communications Security Law was supposed to be introduced before the summer, but it is expected to be delayed until this fall due to policy changes.

Regarding Huawei equipment purchase restrictions, as well as the cost and time involved in banning them from the UK's 5G network, Dowden said 5G rollouts would be delayed by two to three years, costing up to £2 billion. He expressed the idea that it would take

"We did not make this decision lightly and for the sake of all my voters I must be honest with the consequences of this decision," he said. "This policy will delay 5G deployment. At the time of the January policy, 5G deployment was already delayed by a year and cost £1 billion (about 135 billion yen). From the end of 2020, new Huawei 5G equipment will be launched. Today's decision to ban the purchase will delay the rollout of 5G by another year and cost an additional £500m."

In addition, the cost of eliminating existing Huawei 5G equipment by 2027 for telecom companies is expected to be "hundreds of millions of pounds (tens of billions of yen)."

“It has real and significant consequences for the communications that we are all connected to,” and implementing it “earlier and broader” than the 2027 target would be an “unnecessary addition of a modest scale.” There will be costs and delays, Dowden warned.

"The shorter the period for removing Huawei equipment, the greater the risk of mobile communication failures," he said.

This policy is very different from the restrictions announced by the government in January 2020. In January, the Boris Johnson administration expressed confidence that the risks associated with vendors with deep ties to the Chinese government could be managed.

And Mr Dowden was questioned by opposition MPs about the "reversal of policy change" and the delays to the UK's 5G network infrastructure due to a failure to make a decision six months ago.

Shadow digital minister Chi Onwurah said the government's digital policies were in tatters. He called for the establishment of a multi-stakeholder task force to lead infrastructure change. “The series of moves shows that the government cannot manage this disruption on its own. We need a task force of local governments and legislators," said Onurra.

In the ruling party, Mr. Dowden's announcement was generally received positively. Prime Minister Johnson faced considerable backlash from a group of opposition lawmakers within his ruling party for his earlier Huawei policy. Therefore, it is unclear whether those opponents will support the new policy. Speaking to the Guardian, one opposition lawmaker warned that he would discuss amendments to the Communications Security Bill to further shorten the time frame for banning Huawei equipment, which includes not only 5G but also 3G and 4G.

Regarding what to do with equipment from high-risk vendors used in non-5G networks, the government sought further delays. Mr. Dowden told Congress the issue needed scrutiny and said he would "have technical discussions with operators to understand supply chain alternatives."

“Since there is only one other vendor suitable for scaling fiber equipment, we will begin technical discussions with operators to understand supply chain alternatives. We can avoid unnecessary delays and prevent significant resilience risks."

Technical talks will determine government policy on Huawei outside of the 5G network, Dowden added.

The UK government has previously said it is working to diversify the supply chain around 5G network infrastructure equipment. Dowden repeated the same language, saying the UK is working with its Five Eyes allies (UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to promote decentralization.

Long-term, he said, the company will encourage and support carriers to standardize on using multiple vendors on each network. But even here, he warned that developing such an open RAN network would take time.

In the short to medium term, he also suggested that other major vendors may need to join. The government also said it had already held concrete talks with alternative telecoms equipment makers, including Samsung and NEC, about accessing the UK market to catch up with Huawei's exclusion.

"We are already working closely with carriers and vendors to support and accelerate the process of decentralization. A global problem that requires international cooperation to create lasting solutions." That is why we are working with our Five Eyes allies and friends to achieve common goals," he added.

TechCrunch has reached out to Huawei for comment.

Update: Huawei spokesperson Ed Brewster provided the following statement:

The unfortunate decision is bad news for everyone in the UK who uses mobile phones. It will put the UK on a digital delay course, risking rising costs and deepening the digital divide. Instead of 'leveling up', government is leveling down and we call for rethinking. We are confident that the new US restrictions will not affect the resilience or security of the products we supply to the UK.

Unfortunately, Britain's future has become politicized. This is not about security, it's about US trade policy. Over the past two decades, Huawei has focused on building a better telecommunications network for the UK. As a responsible operator, we will continue to support our customers as usual.

We will conduct a detailed review of what today's announcement means for our business, and explain to the government how we can contribute to improving telecommunications in the UK."

Image credit: CHESNOT / GETTY IMAGES

(Reprinted from TechCrunchJapan, July 15, 2020, "British government changes policy, decides to exclude Huawei 5G products until 2027".)

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