London (AFP)
The United Kingdom announced Tuesday that it will expunge its 5G network from all equipment produced by the Chinese giant Huawei because of a risk to the security of the country, a hardening of the position likely to exacerbate tensions with Beijing.
The purchase of new Huawei equipment will be prohibited after December 31, 2020 and existing equipment will have to be removed by 2027.
"The best way to secure our network is for operators to stop using Huawei equipment to build the future British 5G network," Minister of Culture and Digital Affairs Oliver Dowden said in the House of Commons at L from a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) chaired by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one for British telecom networks, for our national security and for our economy - now and in the long term," he added.
- "Politicized" decision -
In a statement, Huawei said it was "regrettable that (its) future in the UK was politicized, because of US trade policy and not for security reasons". It is also "bad news for all those who have a mobile phone in the United Kingdom" because this decision "risks slowing the digital advance of the country, increasing bills and increasing the digital divide".
London has been under heavy pressure from the Trump administration for months, which accuses Huawei of spying for Beijing - which he denies.
According to Oliver Dowden, the American sanctions imposed in May on the Chinese giant, intended to cut Huawei's access to semiconductors manufactured with American components, weighed in the British decision. London is concerned about the group's use of replacement components that could pose new cybersecurity risks.
Despite several US warnings, the British government had allowed the Chinese telecoms giant in January to build up to 35% of the non-strategic infrastructure necessary to deploy the country's new 5G network.
But faced with the grumbling of Washington and Conservative MPs, the government had suggested that it would harden its position, highlighting the security risk that the presence of the equipment manufacturer in its infrastructure can represent.
- Other suppliers in the running -
The bosses of the telephone operators, like those of BT and Vodafone, warned that a total withdrawal of Huawei equipment from the British network would be "impossible" within ten years and would risk causing breakdowns and security problems.
Huawei said last week that its exclusion would affect "the future of the digital strategy (...) of the United Kingdom", saying that a two-year delay would cost its economy £ 29 billion (about 32 billion euros at current prices).
While Boris Johnson had made a campaign promise to improve the British telecommunications network, his Culture Minister admitted on Tuesday that the exclusion of Huawei would delay the deployment of 5G in the UK by "two to three years ", resulting in a cost of" up to £ 2 billion "(about 2.20 billion euros).
Discussions are underway with other suppliers, including Japanese NEC and South Korean Samsung, he said.
This decision also risks worsening relations between the United Kingdom and China, already degraded in recent years after having experienced a "golden age" under former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.
While the United Kingdom is looking for new allies, particularly in Asia, since its exit from the European Union at the end of January, its relationship with Beijing has been strained recently with the entry into force in Hong Kong of a controversial law on security, imposed by Beijing, denounced by London.
Downing Street has promised to extend immigration rights, and ultimately access to British citizenship, for millions of residents of its ex-colony, a measure denounced by China as "gross interference" in his internal affairs.
© 2020 AFP