Johnson Plans To Cut Huawei's Role In UK 5G Network Development To Zero By 2023 - Reports

Johnson Plans to Cut Huawei's Role in UK 5G Network Development to Zero by 2023 - Reports

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to reduce the involvement of Chinese tech giant Huawei in the development of 5G network infrastructure in the country to zero by 2023, The Telegraph reported, citing its sources

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd May, 2020) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to reduce the involvement of Chinese tech giant Huawei in the development of 5G network infrastructure in the country to zero by 2023, The Telegraph reported, citing its sources.

According to the newspaper's report, published late Friday, the prime minister has instructed the government to prepare the relevant plan.

The news comes as Johnson plans to visit the United States in June for the G7 summit and amid his intention to make the United Kingdom more self-sufficient and less reliant on Chinese goods.

In late January, the UK government announced that Huawei would be allowed to participate in the national 5G network development, but with certain restrictions. Huawei, in particular, will be excluded from all "safety-related" and "safety critical" networks, as well as "sensitive geographic locations," such as nuclear sites and military bases.

In addition, the access of Huawei and other "high risk vendors" to nonsensitive parts of the network will be capped at 35 percent.

The UK government explained its decision by the need to prevent China - via its company - from acting "in a way that is harmful to the UK." The move also came after the US' repeated warnings that allowing Huawei to participate in the 5G network's development would put their bilateral intelligence-sharing agreements in jeopardy.

In May 2019, the US government blacklisted Huawei over its suspected connections to Chinese intelligence and has been pushing other countries to refrain from using Huawei's equipment when adopting 5G network technology.

5G is an advanced wireless technology that can transfer information at speeds 30 times faster than current 4G networks. The technology is predicted to alter the world significantly, particularly in the fields of home technology. China is one of the world leaders in the rollout of 5G, and coverage was launched commercially in the country in November 2019.