Huawei's UK tech eviction reportedly caused Sky to fall on mobile customers
- Reference: 1695992704
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/09/29/huawei_sky_mobile_outages/
- Source link:
Last year, the government issued [1]formal legal notices to telecoms operators instructing them to expunge Huawei technology from the country's 5G networks by the end of 2027.
This followed a long process in which the UK had initially resisted demands from the US government to fall in line with its own sanctioning of China-headquartered Huawei as a potential threat to national security.
[2]
However, the Designated Vendor Direction document also specified that telcos must not make use of Huawei equipment or services in their network core after December 31, 2023, and according to the [3]Financial Times , complying with this particular edict has led to outages for Sky Mobile customers.
[4]
[5]
Sky Mobile is actually a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), meaning that it runs services using the infrastructure of another telco (in this case O2), but Sky also operates some of its own equipment in order to provide mobile services, according to the FT.
Sources linked the removal of Huawei gear from Sky's mobile network infrastructure to the spate of servive interruptions. Sky suffered at least one notable outage in [6]May , and another one in [7]June this year.
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We contacted Sky to ask if the outages were connected to the replacement of Huawei network gear, but the company did not respond. It refused to comment to the FT directly on the outages too but did say:
"Sky is fully complying with government requirements on our mobile network, whilst making every effort to ensure we limit any potential impact on customers."
Bill Ray, VP analyst of Emerging Technology and Trends at Gartner, commented that, speaking generally, "the rip and replace process will take a few years, so I wouldn't be surprised if they've started." He added that "replacing kit is always a challenge as the new systems won't have quite the same interfaces as what's being replaced.
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"I think it would be fair to say that the process will cause disruption, and any attempt to do it on the cheap will result in more disruption."
[10]Call me an Apple fan, says Huawei founder and chief exec
[11]Pot calls the kettle hack as China claims Uncle Sam did digital sneak peek first
[12]So what if China has 7nm chips now, there's no Huawei it can make them 'at scale'
[13]SK hynix vice-chair denies selling to Huawei, calls for memory probe
The move to rip and replace Huawei from telecoms networks started under Trump's US administration in May 2019, and his successor President Biden has not yet softened the stance.
The UK had maintained that there was no evidence Huawei kit was being used to backdoor telecoms networks, based on [14]examinations of Huawei equipment carried out by GCHQ, but the US [15]continued to apply pressure on the UK and other allies until they fell in line.
This year, the European Commission also got in on the act, with EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton [16]stating that Chinese telecoms equipment posed a threat and should be removed from the networks of member states.
Germany, which has blown hot and cold on the issue of whether Huawei represents a threat, signaled its [17]intention in August to remove Huawei and ZTE kit from the country's networks. This was despite reports that removing Huawei could end up [18]costing Germany's state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn alone upwards of €400 million.
The estimated total cost of ripping and replacing Huawei in the UK is around £2 billion ($2.45 billion). ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/13/uk_telcos_huawei_ban/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZRb0oi6AtPGUnx05DO6AUwAAARg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.ft.com/content/b8135588-90b9-4a65-b368-e8e377e7b1a6
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRb0oi6AtPGUnx05DO6AUwAAARg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRb0oi6AtPGUnx05DO6AUwAAARg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/sky-mobile-down-outages-internet-customers-b1081560.html
[7] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66071631
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZRb0oi6AtPGUnx05DO6AUwAAARg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZRb0oi6AtPGUnx05DO6AUwAAARg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/21/huawei_zhengfei_apple_fan/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/20/huawei_china_claims/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/19/huaweis_advanced_chip_sparks_us/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/18/sk_hynix_vicechair_denies_selling/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/28/hcsec_huawei_oversight_board_savaging_annual_report/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2019/04/12/us_huawei_security_threats/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/16/breton_calls_for_eu_huawei_bans/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/18/germany_to_cut_huawei/
[18] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/05/huawei_deutsche_bahn_germany/
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Don't keep repeating a lie
Maybe it is a lie but it's the only explanation I've heard. If you know more please explain.
Re: Don't keep repeating a lie
NSA: "We want back doors."
Cisco: "Sure thing, boss!"
Nokia: "I don't like it, but OK..."
Huawei: "GTFO!"
... and the rest is history.
Re: Don't keep repeating a lie
GTFO, our backdoors are for the Chinese secret police and organisations approved by the CCP, of which the NSA is not one.
Re: Don't keep repeating a lie
...but unlike CISCO there were no backdoors to be found. They even provided all of the firmware code to prove as much. However, you keep trying to persuade yourself of the lie that you're perpetuating to prove the original point.
I'm happy to be proved wrong if you can provide a link to ANY evidence for your claim.
I'll wait. I will probably die of old age first though.
£2bn?
Nationalism isn't free. Wave a flag, sing the national anthem and cheerfully pay more tax to cover this. Those are your orders for today, loyal citizens.
Wait until the EU EV duties kick in, fossil use is limited and the US extend their China blocks. The Brexit-initiated inflation 'benefit' we have all been enjoying was just a prelude. The Gold Standard for this sort of thing is North Korea's policy of Juche (self sufficiency). That is what our glorious leaders are aiming for. Large corporates get free money towards building this new economic Jerusalem. Everyone else has to man up and suffer. Crap services are part of the suffering. Not just patchy mobile services. By next year, many more of the UK's local councils will only be funding legally binding essentials. If it can't be turned into an app it will vanish. Plus limited rail, limited flights and extra driving costs and restrictions. Plus a load of other stuff, but I don't want to depress anyone. We'll leave the rest as a surprise. Everyone likes surprises.
Re: £2bn?
"Nationalism isn't free. Wave a flag, sing the national anthem and cheerfully pay more tax to cover this. Those are your orders for today, loyal citizens."
It generally isn't, but simply importing yet more from China has its limits, and we are now finding out that exporting all our jobs and pollution simply results in a huge balance of payments problem, that in turn does no good to your FX rate and make inflation more likely in the current situation, that pressures interest rates up and the government deficit up, so less for services and more for lenders. The British government (of all colours) turned its back on British manufacturing a couple of decades ago, and it's not had a good outcome, unless an economy based on coffee shops, charity shops, mobile and vape retailers is anyone's idea of a good thing. There's still some good work going on - the UK's exports of "stuff" are still surprisingly high value, but we've been on a slippery slope for a while now, with people who don't understand anything insisting there's comparative advantage by not making stuff here, and then paying another country to make it for us.
I doubt that in the Huawei case the alternative kit has any UK content, but you started making the point about global trade.
At least the stuff is apparently secure enough that big councils are happily installing Huawei infrastructure ...
Something, Something, Security!
We are getting steadily closer to the point where governments are mere puppets of the multi-national corporations.
Something that was 'predicted' in numerous science fiction stories from the past.
Re: Something, Something, Security!
Getting closer? I thought we are already there...
Don't keep repeating a lie
We all know that the 'national security' explanation for the need to remove Huawei kit is 100% bogus. There's an old notion that 'if you repeat a lie often enough people will believe it' so repeating this lie gives it credibility.