U.K. approves inclusion of Huawei gear for 5G despite U.S. warnings

The National Security Council led by the Prime Minister agreed to give Huawei limited access to help build noncore infrastructure for the network

Reports confirm that U.K. has dismissed warnings of the U.S. about including 5G telecoms equipment from Huawei, despite the possibility that this could put co-operations over security at risk between the two countries. It has been claimed that Huawei was backed by branches of Chinese military and intelligence.

Apparently, it has been confirmed from recent reports that Theresa May, U.K. Prime Minister, has decided to allow the 5G equipment manufacturer of China into the country’s network. The National Security Council led by the Prime Minister agreed to give Huawei limited access, to help build noncore parts of the network such as antennas.

Sources familiar with the matter said supporters of the U.K. approach will claim that Huawei has not received a complete green light, focusing mainly on its ban from core parts of the country’s network instead of its more general inclusion, but it is doubtful that Washington will perceive things in that way too.

Earlier in the month, the Times informed that a senior official of U.S. cybersecurity had warned Britain it could impair military and economic collaboration between the countries if it will use Huawei for its future generation 5G mobile network.

Robert Strayer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of U.S. for Cyber and International Communications, claimed that the U.S. believes implementing these standards thoroughly will lead certainly to the exclusion of Huawei.

Supposedly, it seems like the U.K. has come to an economic decision, as excluding Huawei at this late stage in 5G planning would lead to billions of pounds in further costs and substantially delay the deployments. Considering this situation, it was a realistic move by the country’s leaders.

Sources commented that U.K. has been more equivocal with its approach to Huawei and this news is consistent with the segmented networking that has been emerging out of the National Cyber Security Centre of the country.

Source Credit: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/04/24/huawei-splits-u-k-and-u-s-governments-cyber-warnings-and-cia-intel-rejected/#25a57cbb7a90