UK Gives Huawei Green Light to Help Build 5G Network

The British House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee Tuesday concluded that there are no technical grounds for excluding Huawei from the U.K's 5G or other telecommunications networks.

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Despite this decision, the Chinese company will be prohibited from providing equipment to the "sensitive parts" of the British 5G network. Among them are, for instance, military bases, nuclear plants, and other "critical" national infrastructures.

"This package will ensure that the U.K. has a very solid, practical and technically capable digital security framework for the next few years," the National Cybersecurity Center advisor Ciaran Martin, said and added that the high-risk providers "never will be in our most sensitive networks."

For its part, Huawei said that the U.K. government's decision will allow it to continue working with its British customers to keep the 5G roll-out on track.

"The decision will result in a more advanced, secure, and cost-effective telecoms infrastructure that is fit for the future," Huawei Vice-president Victor Zhang said.

Previously, the U. S government pressured Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ban Huawei completely, arguing that China could use the company's equipment to steal Western secrets.

The decision of the British authorities was well received by telecommunications experts who believe that a total ban on Chinese technology would be too damaging in terms of economic competitiveness.

"The costs to the UK of excluding Huawei would be huge and complete exclusion is virtually impossible," University of Cambridge Professor Peter Williamson said.