UK security chiefs reportedly warn PM against banning Huawei
The UK is much less likely to hit ambitious broadband targets if Huawei isn’t involved in the 5G network, Johnson has apparently been told.
The report comes courtesy of the Mail, which reckons the National Security Council has been warned that Prime Minister Johnson can forget hitting his 2025 fast broadband targets if the UK’s 5G network isn’t up to scratch. This would apparently be made inevitable if we didn’t let Huawei participate, the NSC has apparently conveyed to the PM.
When BoJo first announced his ambition broadband targets they seemed to be focused entirely on fibre, but it looks like he has been subsequently advised that there’s this thing called fixed wireless access that is really handy for connecting remote locations. His patient telecoms advisors will presumably have then pointed out that the kind of FWA needed to help him hit his targets would require a decent 5G network, hence the Huawei angle.
This leak to the Mail, presumably from somewhere in the government, seems designed to serve two purposes. The minor purpose is to rebrand BoJo’s pledge as being focused on outcomes rather than technology types. But the main reason for it is probably to provide cover for the decision not to block Huawei from the 5G network, which seems to have been made already but won’t be announced until after the general election.
US President Trump is a Johnson supporter, but that relationship will be strained if BoJo decides not to tow the US line on Huawei. Maybe BoJo is hoping to use his own broadband pledge as mitigation during the inevitable awkward conversation he will have with Trump after announcing he’s not blocking Huawei from the UK 5G network.
