UK extends Huawei 5G gear removal timeline

U.S. is putting a new ban on Huawei, which wasn’t surprising but U.K. is following the same path to ousting Huawei from its network infrastructure. As announced recently, UK has extended the timeline to remove Huawei from its network equipment industry, first in 5G.

According to an official UK government document, UK has published a guide to 35 telecoms network operators to remove Huawei gear from their core part.

In 2020, UK decided to remove Huawei citing guidance from National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), as the company cannot manage customers due to U.S. sanctions on its supply chain. The sanctions, imposed by the US Government in 2020, stop Huawei from accessing US semiconductor technology on which it previously relied. On the other hand, UK government has already fallen into U.S. trap and singing the same song that Huawei network equipment poses national security.

Below you can check the new extended timeline to remove Huawei from network equipment infrastructure in UK.

The new deadline to exit Huawei equipment from the 5G core structure is by 31 December 2023, which was initially planned for 28 January 2023.

UK has aimed to outcast Huawei from 5G entirely by the end of 2027, while an immediate halt on the installation of new Huawei equipment. On the other hand, UK wants to limit Huawei’s appearance in full fiber access networks to 23% by 31 October 2023.

“Today I’m using these powers and making it a legal requirement for Huawei to be removed from 5G networks by 2027,” said UK’s Digital Secretary Michelle Donelan.

In reality, Huawei telecoms need more time to fill the hole if they remove Huawei from their network structure around the country because Huawei’s influence and the alluring price have caused a positive impact on UK’s telecom operators. Meanwhile, the UK government has not revealed the fund to feed the removal process but it will surely be not easy.