The UK government says that the impact of the US ban on supplying tech to Chinese telecoms giant Huawei must be fully considered before a decision can be reached on allowing the firm to help build the UK's 5G network.Back in April, the UK Government
reportedly agreed to allow Huawei to supply equipment to help build the UK's 5G network infrastructure. Culture secretary Jeremy Wright has now said that a firm decision hasn't been reached and the government isn't ready yet to make a decision on the matter.
The issue began last year when the Chinese government passed a law requiring all companies to co-operate with state intelligence operations, prompting fears that companies such as Huawei could be legally compelled to give their home governments access to snoop on any hardware they develop.
The United States issued a blanket ban preventing US companies from providing technology or components to chinese telecoms giant Huawei and 66 related companies. Huawei has been a major player in development and deployment of the 5G mobile data network, and the US called on other countries to ban the company from providing 5G infrastructure.
The
UK government reportedly gave permission initially for Huawei to build "non-core infrastructure" for the 5G network, which would include antennas and other hardware but may not include any control systems. Culture secretary Jeremy Wright now admits that the impact of the US ban on UK businesses hadn't been considered and it wouldn't be right to make a decision until that full impact is known.
Mr Wright said the US ban could impact on the future availability and reliability of Huawei's products and that it could impact other markets, both factors that need to be considered before the firm can be given the go-ahead.
Source: BBC News
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Brendan is a Sync NI writer with a special interest in the gaming sector, programming, emerging technology, and physics. To connect with Brendan, feel free to send him an email or follow him on Twitter.
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