UK set to approve Huawei technology for 5G networks

Huawei to be granted 'very limited' role, according to reports

Prime Minster Boris Johnson is set to approve the use of Huawei technology in the UK's 5G mobile phone networks. But their involvement, according to reports over the weekend, will be "very limited". A decision is expected next week.

In reality, it is likely to mean little change in Huawei's role, with the company limited to non-core parts of the network, such as radio antenna network (RAN) technology, while UK networks are already rolling out 5G networks using core network hardware from Nokia and Ericsson.

A final decision will be made within weeks at a meeting of the National Security Council, a decision that follows more than a year of can-kicking by both Johnson and his predecessor, Theresa May.

It was under May in April last year that members of the National Security Council voted 5-4 in a closed meeting to admit Huawei. The-then defence minister Gavin Williamson was subsequently sacked in May by May after being accused of leaking the result of the vote. A decision on the matter based on the vote was subsequently postponed.

The repeated postponement of the security decisions over Huawei effectively forced mobile operators to seek core 5G network hardware from alternative providers, namely Nokia and Ericsson. Three UK, for example, operates a largely Nokia-supplied core network.

Vodafone, meanwhile, paused its deployment of Huawei hardware a year ago, limiting its involvement to RAN technology on the edge of the network. BT has consigned Huawei hardware to the edge of its networks.

A decision in favour of Huawei would almost certainly lead to a diplomatic dispute with the US, which has pushed allies hard to ban the company from involvement in 5G build-outs. It claims that Huawei networking hardware cannot be trusted due to the company's close relationship with China's government, and legal requirement to assist the nation's intelligence services in any way demanded.

As a result, the US has threatened to cease sharing intelligence with allies that allow Huawei hardware to be installed on national networks.

However, Andrew Parker, director general of the UK intelligence agency MI5, has claimed that there is "no reason to think" that the US would cut the UK out of the loop. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, in an enquiry that concluded in July last year, also came down in favour of Huawei.

Representatives of the US National Security Agency are set to visit the UK this week in a bid to persuade the UK to implement a blanket ban.

Huawei claims that it is owned by an employee trust controlled by its trade unions and adds that it has never, and would never, allow its hardware to be used for surveillance by any government. Cynics claim that trade unions in China are ultimately controlled by China's government and, hence, Huawei is ultimately controlled by China's one-party state government.

Huawei and its local rival ZTE have built out 4G and 5G networks around the world, and also provided systems enabling governments to eavesdrop on traffic running on their own hardware. These include deep packet inspection technologies enabling data traffic to be read, and the means to shut out global network traffic.