The United Kingdom has decided to completely remove Huawei from its 5G networks. According to the Secretary of State for Media and Culture, all Huawei equipment should be gone by the end of 2027.
Earlier this week, Vodafone and BT (two major providers in the United Kingdom) announced that if the UK wanted to remove Huawei from its network quickly, there would be considerable costs involved. Vodafone estimated it would require at least one billion pounds and BT estimated it needed five hundred million pounds. But if the companies would have five to seven years to remove the equipment, these costs wouldn’t be that high.
The British government agreed to the deadline, but this does not mean the overall costs will be lower. According to Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Media and Culture, the choice to remove Huawei altogether will cost around two billion pounds since there will also be a ban on equipment from Huawei for the 5G network at the beginning of 2021.
Dowden also says that the removal of Huawei equipment can’t be reversed in a future election, as it will be legislated. According to the Secretary of State this is ‘not an easy choice, but the right one’.
Huawei disappointed, calling the decision political
Although there had been rumours for some time about the possible removal of Huawei equipment from the British 5G network, the Chinese tech giant expected the United Kingdom to stick to the earlier agreement; to be excluded from certain highly sensitive elements of the network, but to play a role in certain parts of 5G networks regardless.
According to Huawei, the UK’s choice is clearly politically motivated, but it is not without consequences. The United Kingdom, as a result, might be struggling to keep up with today’s digital evolution and this might eventually end up hurting the financial situation of the country.
The United Kingdom’s decision is not well received by China, with an expected response waiting to happen. The United States welcomes the British decision. They have been insisting on a complete ban on Huawei in the United Kingdom for some time as they consider the tech manufacturer to be a threat. Recently, the United States blacklisted Huawei, which prevented companies from using government subsidies to purchase equipment from the Chinese company.
4 hours ago
