Source: UK to begin phasing out use of Huawei equipment in its 5G network as soon as this year, after report doubted viability of Huawei due to new US sanctions
- Decision would reverse green light given to Chinese tech giant — Minister Dowden to give statement on Huawei before July 22
Bloomberg
Context & Ripple Effects
This decision closes a two-year flip-flop. In February 2019 the UK concluded it could mitigate the risk of Huawei kit in 5G — a setback for Washington's campaign — then formalized that stance in January by letting Huawei build non-core elements of Britain's 5G network while banning it from sensitive sites.
New US sanctions changed the calculus: a report doubted Huawei's viability as a supplier, and Minister Dowden is set to confirm the reversal before July 22, unwinding an approval given just months earlier and forcing operators who had begun buying under the January rules to plan removals instead.
First-order effects
UK telecom companies that purchased Huawei gear under the January approval face an immediate planning problem: new purchases stop now, and installed equipment must come out years ahead of any comfortable depreciation schedule.
Huawei loses one of the few European markets that had explicitly defended its inclusion, and Dowden's statement converts a security-review debate into a procurement deadline.
Second-order effects
The US-led anti-Huawei campaign gets its biggest validation after the 2019 UK 'mitigation' setback, pressuring other European governments that were leaning on the UK's risk-assessment model to harden their own positions.
Operators' forced replacement demand becomes a windfall order book for alternative vendors, while Huawei absorbs another revenue hole on top of the US chip restrictions already cutting it off from advanced components.
Third-order effects
The UK's telecom supply chain review points toward a structurally split 5G vendor market: Western carriers building around a shrinking list of approved suppliers, and Huawei responding by deepening domestic substitution — a pattern the company has since pursued by rebuilding its chip business without US components.
If governments keep shortening removal timelines after initial approvals, vendors everywhere face sovereign-risk pricing: access to national 5G markets becomes conditional on political durability, not just technical merit.
The trend: Western governments are turning telecom security reviews into hard removal deadlines for Chinese network vendors, compressing phase-out windows from years to months once geopolitical conditions shift.
Boris Johnson is this month expected to draw up plans to phase out Huawei from Britain's 5G phone networks, after warnings that US sanctions have undermined the Chinese company's ability to supply the UK market https://www.ft.com/...
The UK looks set to block Huawei from 5G network: “The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has concluded that Huawei's products are not secure after the US banned the Chinese firm, which is close to the regime in Beijing, from using American components” https://www.thetimes.co.…
#Huawei has been participating in British networks for ten years. Nobody cared about it, and nor were there any problems until the United States poisoned the debate and whipped up fear. This ludicrous decision will set back 5G for years and cost the British taxpayer billions.
The UK lost the train on being a trendsetter in R&D. China, Japan invest in R&D ten times as much as the UK in constant price PPP terms. The UK has been losing territories, leadership, market shares in all avenues past few decades. This country of mine needs some soul searching. …
If this is accurate Canada is now the only member of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence network - US, UK, Australia & New Zealand - that hasn't banned Huawei from developing 5G. Canada still hasn't decided: UK set to phase out Huawei from 5G network https://news.sky.com/... #cdnpoli
We need a new relationship with China. Whilst we need to trade, we should not allow it into our Critical National Infrastructure. No way, Huawei. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...
“Ministers are to start the process of stripping Huawei from Britain's 5G network by the end of this year after a report by spy chiefs into the Chinese telecoms firm uncovered “severe” security issues.” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/...
Opinion: John Sawers, a former chief of MI6, says China is overplaying its hand and giving western leaders no option but to stand up to it as the UK is expected to phase out Huawei from its 5G networks https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
John Sawers, former head of MI6, writes: “UK intelligence services can no longer provide the needed assurances that Chinese-made equipment is still safe to use in the UK's telecoms network” https://twitter.com/...
Our Sunday @tegraph splash : Huawei faces 5G ban in Britain within months - Johnson expected to u-turn - GCHQ understood to have revised its previous assurance that the risks posed by the Chinese technology giant can be safely managed https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ ...