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UK Brings Huawei Ban Forward

The UK will bring forward the so-called ‘Huawei ban’, which excludes Huawei from implementing their technology in the UK’s 5G system.

The Government has announced that the ban, which had been intended to be put into effect in 2027, will now be implemented from next September.

The new Telecommunications Security Bill banning Huawei’s equipment is intended to be unveiled on Tuesday, with a debate also scheduled to take place.

Boris Johnson announcing the lockdown measures on March 23rd – Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street – Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Under the Bill, communication companies will be prevented from implementing new Huawei equipment, however existing technology can be maintained.

The Bill has been introduced following security concerns. Failure to adhere to these rules will see companies fined 10% of turnover or over £100,000 per day.

Another part of the Bill involves spending an initial £250 million to diversify the communications marketplace.

Credit: Richard Townshend Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden has said following the announcement that the Bill will help the Government “identify and ban telecoms equipment which poses a threat to our national security”.

He continued: “We are also publishing a new strategy to make sure we are never again dependent on a handful of telecoms vendors for the smooth and secure running of our networks.”

Dowden also added a note of optimism in light of what will come as bad news for some. He said: “Our plans will spark a wave of innovation in the design of our future mobile networks.”