US sanctions, due to come into effect in September, will force the company to use technology that is ‘untested’, according to reports adding to on-going security concerns.
A report by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre suggests that US sanctions, which will bar Huawei from using technology relying on American IP, will have a severe impact on the company and UK officials are said to be drawing up plans to prevent new Huawei equipment from being installed in the 5G network.
If sanctions force Huawei to use different suppliers, UK intelligence services have said that they will no longer be able to guarantee that Chinese-made equipment will be safe.
The government appears to want Samsung and NEC to become 5G network kit providers so the UK is less dependent on Ericsson and Nokia, bur how far and fast the government will move remains to be seen.
If 5G is going to be as important as many believe, then avoiding ‘bad actors’ in this space would seem to be a sensible move.
