No reason to exclude Huawei from 5G network says UK parliamentary committee

Huawei has scored a victory in the UK after a parliamentary committee found there was no technical reason to exclude the Chinese network company from the UK’s telecom networks.

A statement from the chairperson of the Science and Technology Committee to the UK digital Minister Jeremy Wright said: “we have found no evidence from our work to suggest that the complete exclusion of Huawei from the UK’s telecommunications networks would, from a technical point of view, constitute a proportionate response to the potential security threat posed by foreign suppliers.”

The report was also in direct contradiction to claims made by the Turnbull Government which banned Huawei from bidding on the 5G rollout that the Core Network and Radio Access Network can be separated on 5G networks.

Huawei claims the Turnbull Government was given in accurate technical advice in the last few hours before Malcolm Turnbull was ousted as Prime Minister.

Huawei says it has yet to receive written confirmation of the 5G ban in Australia nor was it given an explanation as to why the ban was put in place.

The banning of Huawei in Australia came after pressure from the US government which was urging its allies to exclude the Chinese company from their respective bids.

But this has not been the case in Europe where Huawei has sealed more than 25 contracts for commercial 5G deployment.

“It is very pleasing to see the UK government take an evidence-based approach to this matter – there are clearly lessons to be learned here for the Australian Government,” says Jeremy Mitchell, director of corporate and public affairs at Huawei Australia.

“Huawei complies with all the local laws and regulations wherever we operate and we have always been willing to engage with the Australian Government to answer any questions they may have or to work through any concerns.

“We remain open to talking with the Australian Government and to taking whatever measures necessary to demonstrate the safety and security of our equipment – just as we are already doing in the UK and Europe.

“With so many Australians feeling let down by the speeds being delivered on the National Broadband Network it is crucial that Australia gets the best possible 5G networks – as things stand that is not going to happen – and it will be Australian mobile users that pay the price.”

The Huawei 5G ban in Australia has had a knock-on effect for telcos Optus and Vodafone which had worked with the Chinese company when it built its 4G networks.

Optus and Vodafone have since had to seek other 5G vendors which added months of delays to their deployment.

Telstra’s 5G network was built by Swedish company Ericsson.