UK D10 plan to provide alternatives to Huawei

The UK has come up with a plan to provide alternative sources to China for telecoms, pharmaceuticals and other key supplies.

The government has proposed to Washington a plan to form a D10 group of ten democracies – the G7 plus India, Korea and Australia – to create alternative sources of supply of 5G and other goods.

Funnelling resources to Ericsson and Nokia and companies involved in the O-RAN initiative are possible routes that the D10 might take on 5G.

5G is regarded as a matter of urgency as new concerns about China have made it unlikely that Huawei will be used in UK and other Western countries’ 5G networks.

The Times quotes a Whitehall source saying: “We need new entrants to the market. That was the reason we ended up having to go along with Huawei at the time.”

The UK is committed to removing Huawei equipment from the UK network by 2023 and is currently conducting an NCSC-led review of its involvement in UK 5G.

The Foreign Secretary is looking at ways to end the UK’s reliance on China for medical supplies including the repatriation of the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals from China.