Can Huawei work on 5G in the UK? Government avoids the question | News and opinions

"The government is not yet in a position to decide what Huawei involvement should bring to the supply of the UK 5G network," said a British official. Why? Blame Trump blacklist.

Whether or not UK telecom companies are able to use Huawei technology to develop their 5G networks remains unresolved, as a government report reports, it can not decide what to do.

"The government is not yet in a position to decide what Huawei involvement should bring to the UK's 5G network supply," said Jeremy Wright, secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sports.

In the end, this is because the US government has not made a sufficiently clear statement about maintaining Huawei on the blacklist that has plagued it since May. Huawei is currently on a "list of entities" that prohibits US companies from selling sensitive technology to the Chinese manufacturer. This includes Google, ARM (which is not a US company but has close ties to the US) and, for a spell, FedEx.

Despite the desperate desire of mobile operators to get a definitive answer, new Prime Minister Boris Johnson will now decide how Huawei will work in the UK. Johnson's proximity to President Trump would suggest that he is more likely than his predecessor to have a strict view of the Chinese manufacturer.

Cited in L & # 39; IndependentVictor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said: "The UK government's supply chain report badures us that we can continue to work with network operators to roll out 5G across the UK. The results are an important step forward for 5G UK and we welcome the government's commitment to "a diversified telecommunications supply chain" and "new legislation to strengthen the requirements in the telecommunications sector ".

"After 18 years of operation in the UK, we remain committed to helping BT, EE, Vodafone and other partners build secure and reliable networks.

"The evidence shows that Huawei's exclusion would cost the UK economy £ 7 billion and would result in more expensive 5G networks, raising prices for anyone with a mobile device. On Friday, the Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee said limiting the market to two telecommunications providers would reduce competition costs, lead to lower resilience and lower security standards. Huawei's inclusion in UK networks would have no impact on the channels used for intelligence sharing.