Suppliers criticise government over Huawei snub
Chinese vendor will be allowed to play a part in UK's 5G network but will be banned from 'core infrastructure', according to reports
The government has been criticised by suppliers for banning Huawei from the core of the UK's 5G network.
Reports this morning claimed that Theresa May will banish the Chinese vendor from the heart of the UK's 5G infrastructure following a meeting with the National Security Council, instead restricting it to "non-core" elements of the technology.
The news comes after the government looked set to take a more lenient approach to Huawei than the likes of the US and Australia have.
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said in February that it believed it could mitigate any risks posed by Huawei, which stem from its founder's links to the Chinese government and accusations of spying for the state.
Cliff Fox, COO at UK Huawei partner Pure Technology Group, said that the claims - led by the US government - have affected business, but are unfounded.
The US has encouraged the four other members of intelligence group Five Eyes - the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia - to impose the same restrictions on the vendor as its own.
"There has been a concerted political media barrage against Huawei since last year," he said.
"It has undoubtedly had an effect on Huawei's business and its partners but globally Huawei sales continue to increase and its innovation in areas such as 5G is an acknowledged fact.
"While the US and Australia have decided against Huawei, many other countries, including the UK to date, have not. The US-China political situation may continue for some time yet, but there's no evidence provided by the US, Five Eyes or other parties to support alleged claims of security risk."
The government is yet to confirm the reports, with digital minister Margot James claiming in a tweet that a final decision on the UK's telecoms infrastructure is yet to be announced.
Yesterday Huawei reported a revenue rise despite the issues it is seeing in various territories.
Lawrence Jones, CEO of UKFast, backed the government's decision to allow Huawei to be involved in the 5G network in some capacity, suggesting that the US is threatened by the Chinese vendor's sharp rise.
"I don't see an issue with the British government using Huawei in this way because there's currently no hard evidence of collusion between it and the Chinese government," he said.
"It would be unfair to disadvantage a commercial business when there's absolutely no evidence to date that it has done anything wrong.
"There is a great deal of fuss over Huawei and I am not sure anyone has provided any real evidence. A lot of the noise around this is coming from the US, which has previously enjoyed complete dominance in the router and networking market and sees Chinese technology as a significant threat.
"We don't use Huawei at UKFast and have no intention of doing so because we're happy using Cisco and Arista. However, if Huawei makes a competitive product and can prove that the rumours of collusion are nonsense, it should be able to apply to tender like any other business."
Jones also criticised the US for its Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, which he said has not received enough attention as a result of the US' Huawei agenda.
The CLOUD Act is designed to allow the US access to data stored by US-based organisations without their consent.
"What we do know is that the US government has the right under the CLOUD Act to access and obtain data from any US company regardless of its physical jurisdiction, yet this seems to have gone largely unnoticed in the midst of the controversy surrounding Huawei," he said.
"I don't see anyone banning US vendors in spite of the potentially intrusive ruling of US government policy."