A spokesperson confirmed that the UK is reaching out to partners looking for an alternative to Huawei.
London:
Britain said on Friday that it is pushing the U.S. to form a club of 10 nations that could develop their own 5G technology and reduce their dependence on the controversial tech giant Huawei.
The issue is expected to appear at a G7 summit that US President Donald Trump will host next month amid fierce confrontation with China, which has been exacerbated by a global blame game over the spread of the new coronavirus.
Britain has enabled the Chinese world leader in 5G technology to build up to 35% of the infrastructure needed to deploy its new fast data network.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson was reported by The Telegraph newspaper last week for instructing officials to draw up plans to cut Huawei from the network by 2023, as relations with China have deteriorated.
The Times reported that Britain had a “D10” club of democratic partners that would group the G7 countries with Australia and Asian technology leaders, South Korea and India.
He said that one of the options is to channel investment into existing telecommunications companies in the 10 member states.
A Downing Street spokesperson confirmed that Britain is reaching out to partners looking for an alternative to Huawei.
“We are looking for (we are looking for) new market entrants in order to diversify and this is something we have been talking about with our allies, including the United States,” said the spokesman for Downing Street.
Few options
The Finnish Nokia and the Swedish Ericsson are the only alternative options currently available in Europe to provide 5G equipment such as antennas and relay relays.
“We need new market entrants,” a British government source told The Times.
“That’s why we finally had to accept Huawei at the time.”
Johnson’s decision to include Huawei angered Washington because it believes the Chinese private company can either spy on Western communications or simply shut down the British network under Beijing orders.
The United States has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Huawei that have put the future of the UK 5G deployment at risk.
Downing Street said the National Cyber Security Center in the UK is studying the consequences of U.S. sanctions on Huawei’s immediate ability to produce the equipment Britain needs.
The pressure on Johnson to cut ties with Huawei is compounded by the new security law that Beijing plans to impose on Hong Kong, formerly owned by the British.
London exasperated Beijing on Thursday saying it would offer 350,000 Hong Kong nationals with a British national passport (overseas) the right to move to the UK if the new law comes into force.
But Johnson’s plan to completely remove Huawei from the UK network could prove costly at a time when his government is looking for new trading partners after Britain’s exit from the EU.
Johnson challenged his American critics in January to find an alternative to Huawei if they did not want Britain to use the Chinese firm.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
