5G network to cost £2bn more and be delayed after Huawei ban

The UK’s 5G telecoms network will be delayed by two to three years and cost an additional £2bn to complete after the government announced it was banning equipment built by Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Chinese tech giant Huawei has been banned from the UK's 5G network

Huawei technology will have to be stripped from the high-speed mobile network by 2027, and telecoms companies will be banned from purchasing it from next year.

Telecoms companies are also being ordered to shift away from the purchase of Huawei's equipment for the full-fibre broadband network over a period lasting up to two years.

The National Security Council took the decision - which will increase tensions with Beijing - after the impact of US sanctions raised concerns about Huawei's continued involvement in the UK's 5G infrastructure.

It reverses an earlier decision to allow Huawei to provide technology to non-core parts of the 5G network, up to a cap of 35%.

Washington had warned its allies that allowing Huawei to take part in critical infrastructure was a security risk, and could put future intelligence cooperation in jeopardy. The company has denied claims that it would act as a ‘backdoor’ to communications systems for Chinese intelligence services.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Boris Johnson on Tuesday morning.

It followed an assessment of the impact of US sanctions by experts from the National Cyber Security Centre.

In January, before the tough restrictions imposed by US President Donald Trump's administration, Huawei had been allowed to play a limited role in the 5G network despite concerns that it was a "high risk" vendor because of its links to the Chinese government.

Outlining the decision in the House of Commons, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said "keeping the country secure is the primary duty of a government to its people".

Mr Dowden said the UK Government had been "clear eyed from the start" that Huawei was "high risk".

He added that the US sanctions were “a significant material change and one we have to take into consideration", and the UK could no longer be confident in guaranteeing the security of future Huawei 5G equipment.

Explaining the knock-on effects of the decision, Mr Downden told the Commons: "Today's decision to ban the procurement of new Huawei 5G equipment from the end of this year will delay roll-out by a further year and will add up to half a billion pounds to costs.

"Requiring operators in addition to remove Huawei equipment from their 5G networks by 2027 will add hundreds of millions of pounds further to the cost and further delayed roll-out.

"This means a cumulative delay to 5G roll-out of two to three years and costs of up to £2 billion. This will have real consequences for the connections on which all our constituents rely."

But he rejected warnings from telecoms companies that stripping Huawei technology out of 5G masts would lead to mobile service blackouts, telling MPs: “This risk will not materialise”.

The Telecoms Security Bill will now not appear before MPs ahead of the summer recess, but will be introduced in the autumn.

Ministers had faced a potential rebellion by Conservative MPs seeking a ban on Huawei, and rebels responded to the announcement by warning that would try to force an earlier deadline for the removal of Chinese technology from the 5G network.

Shadow digital, science and technology minister Chi Onwurah branded the Government's approach "incomprehensibly negligent".

She said: "It has been clear for some time that there are serious questions over whether Huawei should be allowed to control large sections of our country's telecoms networks, yet the Government refused to face reality.

"Their approach to our 5G capability, Huawei and our national security has been incomprehensibly negligent."

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