UK takes another look at Huawei's position in 5G networks
by Paul Hill
According to reports, the United Kingdom is still looking into Huawei’s involvement in the country’s 5G networks. The revelation comes just days after the U.S. government announced measures to prevent the Chinese company from buying chips from the Taiwanese firm, TSMC. As a result of the UK’s backtracking, customers may end up footing the bill for more expensive replacement hardware.
To be clear, the United Kingdom hasn’t changed its previous plans of allowing Huawei in 5G networks just yet but it is conducting a new review into the impact of allowing the firm into its 5G networks. Under the earlier arrangement, the government said that only 35% of a network can be supplied by Huawei and that the firm shouldn’t be in sensitive areas of the network.
Over time, the UK wanted to diversify 5G network supply chains so that mobile operators had a wider choice of solutions to choose from. Under its plans, the UK was looking to invite companies from other countries to the UK and also promote the adoption of open standards which would allow for interoperability between suppliers and reduce barriers to entry for new entrants into the market.
The United States has been attempting to draft in its allies into its war against Huawei for a while. It managed to get Poland on board but it has had a more difficult job getting Germany and the UK to join in.
Source: BBC News