UK Government Reviews Huawei’s 5G Involvement – Again!

Since the initial rollout of 5G networks across the UK (admittedly, currently in very localized areas) there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the use of Huawei technology in this expansion. Largely due to fears of the Chinese manufacturer allowing ‘security backdoors’ that could potentially allow for network usage to be spied upon or even potentially remotely shutdown.

Back in January, while the UK Government did debate the issue (a matter that had initially begun being discussed since early 2019), it was largely agreed to go ahead with Huawei’s technology, but only in limited amounts. It seems, however, that in a report via the BBC, their involvement is set to be reviewed yet again!

Huawei 5G Networks

In the report, it seems that fresh sanctions applied in America against Huawei have seen fresh calls from The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to review the use of Huawei in the UK’s 5G network.

Exactly what form this will take is, at the time of writing, unclear. It seems, however, that more than a few people out there are still concerned about the current guidelines which require Huawei to be removed from all ‘sensitive’ aspects of networking while an overall technology implementation should not exceed 35%.

What Do We Think?

The pressure largely seems to be stemming from the notable hard line stance the US government is taking. It is, however, a very complicated matter than isn’t easily resolved when it’s noted that both Vodafone and EE use significant volumes of Huawei’s technology in their networks. As you can imagine, they clearly think the current guidelines are unrealistic. Particularly when they have to be ‘achieved’ by 2023.

So, if you were starting to think that this debate was settling down, think again. This matter looks set to waddle on for at least the foreseeable future!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!