Government network restrictions could delay 5G by 12 months, warns Three boss
The rollout of 5G could be delayed by 12 months if the government introduces restrictions on suppliers in the UK’s telecoms network, Three’s chief executive has warned.
Dave Dyson told City PM the launch of the high-speed network could be knocked back a year if the government tells providers they need equipment from more than one vendor.
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“If they say you can’t launch until you’ve got a second vendor then that would cause a delay,” he said. “It would take at least 12 months, I imagine, to introduce a different vendor.”
The government is coming under intense scrutiny over which suppliers will be allowed to participate in the UK’s 5G network amid fears of cybersecurity threats and spying.
Leaked details from a meeting of the National Security Council earlier this week suggested the UK will ban controversial Chinese firm Huawei from core parts of the network, but allow it to participate in non-core areas such as antennas.
In addition to a ban on Huawei, the government may decide to bring in new laws forcing each provider to have equipment from at least two different vendors in each part of their networks.
Dyson warned such a restriction would impact Three, which uses only Nokia’s equipment for its core network and only Huawei for its non-core network.
But he said the rules could be managed if the government gives networks enough time to make the changes.
“There’d be a cost implication I would imagine, but it might not necessarily impact on launch timeframes,” Dyson said.
The network boss played down concerns about Huawei, despite reports from UK spooks stating flaws in the firm’s cybersecurity could pose a risk to national security.
“I think a lot of the discussion around Huawei is much more political and intangible rather than fact-based. I think if you took a fact-based approach then a lot of the debate goes away,” Dyson said.
Read more: Huawei ‘will be blocked’ from UK’s core 5G network
He added that concerns about diversity of suppliers applies to all vendors, regardless of their origin, and said it was natural for the government to be vigilant about anything that involves critical national infrastructure.
The government is yet to confirm reports about Huawei, and has said it will publish the findings of its telecoms supply chain review in due course.