July? British government could decide to boot Chinese giant Huawei from the UK's networks by this month
- Reference: 1594039507
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/07/06/huawei_may_get_the_boot/
- Source link:
Speaking on London talk radio station [1]LBC Radio this morning, Dowden raised the possibility that crippling US sanctions have undermined its reliability as a vendor.
“In relation to Huawei, we’ve had these US sanctions that were imposed a couple of months ago. I’ve asked the National Cyber Security Centre to analyse the impact of them,” he said.
“It seems likely they’re going to have a significant impact on the reliability of Huawei. I’ve just received that advice. I will be discussing that with the prime minister [Boris Johnson] and if there’s any change of policy arising from it I will make an announcement.”
Dowden added that any policy shift would be issued later this month, before Parliament breaks for its summer recess.
If the UK government opts to ban Huawei entirely, following [2]mounting pressure from US politicians , cellular providers will inevitably be forced to change their procurement plans, replacing upcoming Huawei installations with infrastructure from rival vendors like Ericsson and Nokia.
Telcos are currently banned from using equipment from so-called “high risk” vendors like ZTE and Huawei in the sensitive core network. They are, however, permitted to use cheaper Chinese kit in the fringes of their 5G networks, like the RAN — [3]up to a maximum of 35 per cent of the installed equipment.
More recently, ministers were said to be considering plans to [4]slash Huawei usage to zero in the next three years.
The latest emission from Dowden looks to speed up that schedule.
Limitations already imposed on UK networks that necessitate telcos to replace existing Huawei-made equipment on the fringes of the 5G core promises to be an expensive ordeal. [5]BT estimated a cost of £500m (including its mobile and fixed-line networks), while [6]Vodafone estimated its hit would be around €200m (including its European networks). Those costs will rise significantly higher if a new stricter ruling is introduced.
Speaking to The Register , telecoms analyst Paolo Pescatore described a ban on Huawei's networking equipment as "increasingly likely."
"This was unthinkable a few years ago and underlines how things can change so quickly. There are different scenarios from a gradual phasing out, to a ban on purchasing new equipment and ultimately stripping out existing Huawei kit entirely," he added.
Huawei is in an unenviable position. It is perhaps the most recognisable Chinese technology firm, and is operating during a time when friction between China and the West is at an all-time high. And while Huawei is trying to persuade the UK that it's an independent private entity, with company director Sir Kenneth Olisa describing it as [7]being what BAE Systems is to Westminster , those pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Consequently, national security concerns have overshadowed any potential technological or cost advantages of using Huawei's equipment.
In a statement, Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said: "We are working closely with our customers to find ways of managing the proposed US restrictions so the UK can maintain its current lead in 5G. As ever, we remain open to discussions with the Government."
"We believe it is too early to determine the impact of the proposed restrictions, which are not about security, but about market position."
"All our world-leading products and solutions use technology and components over which the UK government has strict oversight. Our technology is already extensively used in 5G networks across the country and has helped connect people throughout lockdown.”
Regardless of where you stand, the point can be made that the pandemic has made mobile broadband, specifically, even more vital to many economies, not least the UK's. The move to [8]next gen 5G will only accelerate this. ®
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[1] https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/government-u-turn-on-huawei-deal-after-us-sanctions/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2019/04/12/us_huawei_security_threats/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/01/28/uk_says_yes_to_limited_huawei_non_core/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/23/bojo_buckles_huawei_out/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/01/30/bt_uk_huawei_costs/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/02/05/vodafone_to_strip_huawei_gear_from_its_network/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/19/huawei_biden_election_win/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/03/vodafone_5g_coventry/
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Trade Deal
China is not interested in opening up its markets to others, so a trade deal with the country was never really on the cards, anyway.
Re: Trade Deal
Yes it was - we send our jobs there, they send their badly made junk to us.
Huawei should not be the last ...
The Chinese ambassador has been saying that we must not interfere with internal Chinese affairs, but how can we ignore human abuses in other countries ? Should we let Primark ignore working conditions in Bangladesh from where it buys its clothes or [1]slave labour in Chinese prisons ? No: public opinion is making them change.
Likewise: we must not ignore what China is doing to fellow humans.
I have met Uighur Muslims, I know people from Hong Kong - but even if I did not how could I ignore oppression of people even if they are 10,000 miles away ?
We must send a message to Xi Jinping that we do not like the bully that he has become. He is emboldened by their burgeoning economy - so we can express our disapproval by buying less of their goods and services.
Other nations should do likewise: a school ground bully will just dominate/terrorrise one child who stands up to him but if many do he will be defeated.
I recognize that some of the UK's history is not good, but that does not mean that we should turn a blind eye.
China is not the only rogue nation but is, I believe, the most dangerous.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-28018137
Re: Huawei should not be the last ...
China does not care about public opinion.
Inside China, "public opinion" is set by the Communist Party; anyone whose opinion is different and dares to go public is clearly insane/a criminal/a terrorist/a threat to the Party and therefore must be jailed/disappeared/executed.
Outside China, any adverse public opinion is clearly the work of warmongering capitalists and therefore can be ignored, although threats to any governments that do not do what China wants is also a option (as is full-scale military action if they are close enough - after all the "public opinion" must really be in support of China, so an invasion is doing them a favour).
What about all the Huawei street cabinets that Openreach have? Do they not pose a threat too?
Apparently we can run a satellite internet service on our own so how hard can 5G be?
It's funny how political fall outs make policy suddenly happen quickly. Whilst I accept the human rights issues in China are terrible, let's remember the Huawei decision is supposed to be based on security concerns, not used as a Trumpian style punishment of the companies country of origin. Huawei is just a convenient stick to beat them with, and this just makes it even more obvious the original reasoning is largely a fiction.
The First Great Cyber Wars are All Hearts and Minds Operations Suffering Neither Fool nor Folly
Speaking on London talk radio station LBC Radio this morning, Dowden raised the possibility that crippling US sanctions have undermined its reliability as a vendor.
Are those sanctions a legitimate appropriate response to what exactly ? The East's Mighty Rise is not a Daemon to be Vanquished when a Delight to be Highly Valued and Much Sought After.
If such is your Daemon that Sees Not the Future with Affluence for Anything Owned by Everyone Everywhere, do you do Battle Primarily with Yourself and Fail/Win against Phantom Ghosts and Fearsome Fake Enemies ..... Rotten Confections of the Crazed Imagination.
Such is the True Nature Waiting and Paths Resulting from Any and All Wilful Denials of Certain COSMIC Secrets for Novel Noble Presentations, and easily spilled into Attentive Media Systems .... either with or currently without Advanced IntelAIgent Networking Facilities/Utilities/Abilities SMARTR Enabled.
Q: Is Uncle Sam's the Big Bad Wolf here and China, Little Red Riding Hood?
A: Yes. Is there any reasonable doubt? Is that not scandalous, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden whenever and wherever true and deniable/undeniable?
Q: What is everyone pratting about to protect and lead with? And lead to where exactly?
Anywhere Better than Heaven or worse than Hell? Do you ever/never ask Media Mogul Led Drivers for Pictures of the Future Destinations with SMARTR Solutions to those Few Final Questions.
And just so you know what you can no longer deny ..... SMARTR Solutions = SMARTR Mentoring Analysis Reporting Titanic Research Solutions.
UK Government to decide....????
I really doubt that they will. It will be the USofA that decides. Our Puppet Government will just pass on the decision.
If someone inside Whitehall had the balls they'd delay and delay and delay the decision in the hope that El Trumpo gets the boot in November. But they won't. After all, they that their Peerage and Directorships to think of now don't they!
"And while Huawei is trying to persuade the UK that it's an independent private entity, with company director Sir Kenneth Olisa describing it as being what BAE Systems is to Westminster, those pleas have fallen on deaf ears. "
Ah, right. So Hauwei is heavily intertwined with the Chinese government, so much so that they will quietly kill off fraud and bribery investigations? Gotcha.
Maybe the UK government should announce a ban on both Huawei and Cisco for national security reasons.
Honest, it's OK
China says they won't take control of Huawei equipment in foreign countries. It will remain independent, like Hong Kong.
Trade Deal
Remember all that talk about bright, shiny new trade deals with all the major global players?
Watch this ... !!!