UK Sought 'New Entrants' in 5G Networks Amid Huawei Approval, US-China Trade Tensions - Downing Street

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The news comes after unconfirmed reports in UK media cited anonymous sources in Whitehall, who said the government may phase out the Chinese tech giant's role in building UK networks by 2023, despite London's approval in January and refusal to comment on the media speculation.

The United Kingdom had been seeking new entrants into the nation's 5G telecommunications market since January, Downing Street announced on Friday.

"We set out in January that we were seeking new entrants into the market in order to diversify, and that is something we have been speaking with our allies about including the United States," a government spokesman said as quoted by Reuters.

British officials will also look into the impacts of Washington's sanctions on Huawei, the spokesperson added.

The National Cybersecurity Centre said on Tuesday it would assess the impact of such a decision on British infrastructure.

Huawei vice-president Victor Zhang said in a statement that reports from "unnamed sources" did not make sense, adding that his company was "100 [percent] owned by employees" and operated in the UK for 20 years.

"[Our] priority has been to help mobile and broadband companies keep Britain connected, which in this current health crisis has been more vital than ever. This is our proven track-record,” he said at the time.