Security News > 2020 > July > UK to Exclude Huawei From Role in High-Speed Phone Network
Britain's government on Tuesday backtracked on plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a limited role in the U.K.'s new high-speed mobile phone network in a decision with broad implications for relations between London and Beijing.
The U.S. threatened to sever an intelligence-sharing arrangement with the UK because of concerns Huawei equipment could allow the Chinese government to infiltrate U.K. networks.
The decision gives British telecoms operators until 2027 to remove Huawei equipment already in Britain's 5G network.
Johnson in January sought to balance economic and security pressures by agreeing to give Huawei a limited role in Britain's so-called 5G network, excluding the company from core components of the system and restricting its involvement to 35% of the overall project.
"Regrettably our future in the U.K. has become politicized, this is about U.S. trade policy and not security,″ said Ed Brewster, a spokesman for Huawei UK."Over the past 20 years, Huawei has focused on building a better connected U.K. As a responsible business, we will continue to support our customers as we have always done.