Following consultation with Huawei and telecom operators, Britain on Thursday extended the deadline for removing equipment and services from China’s Huawei from critical network activities to December 31, 2023, from the original target date of January 28, 2023. By the end of 2027, all Huawei equipment must be removed from British 5G networks, according to the government. Not only that, but the Government also increased the deadline for keeping Huawei to 35% of the whole fibre access network from October 31, 2022, by three months. In response to pressure from the United States, Britain chose to ban Huawei and other manufacturers from its 5G networks in 2020. Operators like BT, Vodafone, and Hutchison were forced to switch to alternative providers and finally take out Huawei equipment that had already been deployed in their networks as a result of the embargo, which was made a legal requirement last year.
Network Interruptions
The Chinese government may be able to access foreign countries’ data or shut down vital services thanks to Huawei’s 5G technology, according to US authorities. Huawei has denied being a security risk or being under the direction of the Chinese government. The government claimed that a limited number of operators had warned that the initial deadlines ran the danger of network breakdowns and customer interruption due to the epidemic and problems with the global supply chain. It stated that providers should make every effort to fulfil the initial targets and predicted that the majority of them will. Following negotiations with Huawei and UK telecoms operators, fresh deadline extensions have been announced.
Security Threat
The Telecoms Security Act, which went into effect in November 2021, gives designated-vendor orders to all 35 UK telecom network providers, putting the directive to remove Huawei equipment on a legal grounding. The government has classified Huawei as a high-risk supplier of 5G network hardware and services in a designation notice that also outlines all the reasons why the business poses a national security concern, including the effect of US sanctions.
