US sanctions could impact Huawei reliability, says tech minister
Ongoing US sanctions against Huawei could significantly affect the Chinese tech firm’s reliability as a supplier to other countries, culture secretary Oliver Dowden has said.
Measures announced by Washington last month prevent Huawei from working with US companies to source parts for its telecoms equipment, which is installed in the UK’s 5G networks.
The UK took a decision in January to limit Huawei’s participation in its telecoms infrastructure, capping its market share in Britain at 35 per cent.
“If the US impose sanctions which they have done, we believe that could have a significant impact on the reliability of Huawei equipment and whether we can use it safely,” Dowden told Sky News today.
A report by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre is expected to conclude this week that fresh US sanctions on the Chinese vendor will force Huawei to use unsafe technology that could imperil UK security.
Following the report, it is understood that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could draw up plans to remove the firm’s technology from UK infrastructure completely, posing a major U-turn on its January policy.
Dowden said he would not comment on reports that officials are drawing up proposals to stop installing Huawei equipment, but said the UK decision was not “not fixed in stone”.
A Huawei representative yesterday said the US has “consistently failed to provide evidence to back up endless spurious allegations” relating to the security of its technology.
British telecoms companies have warned of the exceptional costs of removing Huawei equipment from the UK network.
BT, for example, has said it will cost the company £500m to comply with the government’s 35 per cent cap.
Huawei passed a major hurdle in the UK last month, receiving planning permission to build a £1bn research facility in Cambridgeshire.