THE PRIME Minister is controversially allowing Huawei into Britains new 5G mobile network despite also formally designating it a high risk
vendor.
The long awaited decision was taken this morning by Boris Johnson and his National Security Council.
Boris gave the final go-ahead this morning with the nine-strong panel of senior ministers.
Whitehall sources insisted a total ban would have delayed 5G as well as full fibres rollout by as long as three years, and stripped tens of billions of pounds out of the nations economy.
Huawei’s access has three important caveats:
- Huawei equipment will be banned from core areas of the network such
as base stations and data storage hubs, and only allowed on the
periphery of it – such as aerials and masts. - Its equipment will also be banned from sensitive sites, such as
military bases and power stations. - And its market share in the network will be capped at 35%, so two
thirds of the network will be built by others and Huawei will not have
any monopoly stranglehold.
The government said today it is certain that these measures will mitigate the risk the risk of cyber attacks or state sponsored hacks.
The move will anger the US, who have pulled out all stops in trying to strong arm the PM into excluding Huawei from the 5G, including threats from President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to block intelligence sharing or a US-UK trade deal.
Mr Pompeo is set to fly to London later this week.
Boris said yesterday the UK was perfectly capable of protecting its own security.
He said: Theres no reason why we shouldnt have technological progress here in the UK, but also protect our security interests.
We are going to come up with a solution that enables us to achieve both those objectives, and thats the way forward.
Intelligence chiefs have assured the PM that security risks from potential Beijing hacking were manageable.
A full ban would have left the UK with just two viable providers, Nokia and Ericsson, leaving the 5G network dangerously susceptible to
their failings, they argued.
A senior Whitehall source said: We are clear-eyed about the challenge posed by Huawei.”
They said: Our world leading cyber security experts know more about Huawei than any country on earth, and are satisfied that any risk can be managed.
A market failure has left us in this position. We agree we must urgently diversity the market and are working on a strategy to achieve
this. We want to get to the position where we dont have to use a high risk vendor in our network.”
The government have put huge restrictions on Huawei because they are labelled a “high risk vendor” that could leave the UK open to Chinese attack if not managed properly.
Digital Secretary Baroness Morgan said: We want world-class connectivity as soon as possible but this must not be at the expense of our national security.”
“High risk vendors never have been and never will be in our most sensitive networks. “
“It is necessary to have tight restrictions on the presence of high risk vendors.”
Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre Ciaran Martin said the risks involved in giving Huawei access were manageable.
He said: High risk vendors have never been and never will be in our most sensitive networks.”
Taken together these measures add up to a very strong framework for digital security.
There are fears that Huawei, who are heavily influenced by the Chinese government, could use their access to the 5G network to spy on the public and gain intelligence on the UK.
Huawei Vice President Victor Zhang welcomed Boris’ decision.
He said: “This decision will result in a more advanced, more secure and cost-effective telecoms infratructure that is fit for the future”.
