Former prime minister Theresa May's national security adviser, Sir Mark Lyall Grant has said that PM Boris Johnson is likely to approve the use of Huawei technology in the UK's new 5G network, going against the pleas of the US government. He said the security services had repeatedly concluded over several years that they were able to mitigate any potential threats posed by the Chinese technology.
The US had said it “would be madness” to use Huawei technology, with several senior Washington officials stating it numerous times that the Trump administration would reassess intelligence sharing with the UK in light of such a move. However, UK intelligence disputes the claims, and has already used some Huawei technology in previous mobile networks.
Sir Grant said, “This has been gone into now by three different administrations, and I think the outcome is quite likely to be the same, that the intelligence agencies are expressing confidence that they can sufficiently mitigate any potential security threat to allow Huawei to continue to provide at least the non-core telecommunications equipment for 5G roll out. The government has developed an oversight mechanism which they are confident will work.”
He added, “Combine that with the fact that Huawei has more advanced technology than the alternatives, I think it is relatively likely that Johnson will come to the same conclusion.” It is known that Britain's two biggest telecom companies, BT and Vodafone are drafting a letter to Johnson, setting out their support for Huawei's involvement in 5G. A senior Huawei executive, Victor Zhang said there was simply “no justification” for banning the company on cyber security grounds.
He said, “After looking at the facts, we hope the government agrees – so that our customers can keep the UK’s 5G roll-out on track and meet the prime minister’s promise of gigabit connectivity for all.” Adding, “Giving Huawei the go-ahead to continue supplying equipment will mean telecom companies have access to the best technology and the breadth of suppliers they need to build secure, resilient and reliable networks.”
