Britain’s MI6 boss says UK government must decide if Huawei suitable for 5G network
- The UK is coming under increasing pressure to restrict Huawei after New Zealand, Australia and the US banned the company
- Ban would come as a blow to Britain’s biggest telecoms companies which have given Huawei an important role in their planned 5G networks
Alex Younger, head of the UK’s foreign intelligence agency MI6, said Theresa May’s government must decide if Chinese-owned Huawei Technologies should be barred from supplying 5G mobile networks in Britain.
The UK is coming under increasing pressure to restrict Huawei after New Zealand, Australia and the US banned the company.
While the UK has already barred another telecoms provider, ZTE Corp, Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright has yet to rule on Huawei.
“We’ve got some decisions to take here,” Younger said in a question-and-answer session with students and media at St Andrews University, Scotland, on Monday.
“We need to decide the extent to which we are going to be comfortable with Chinese ownership of these technologies and these platforms in an environment where some of our allies have taken quite a definite position. It’s not wholly straightforward.’’
A ban would come as a blow to Britain’s biggest telecom companies including BT Group, which have given Huawei an important role in their planned 5G networks.
Companies have been asked to examine resilience in their supply chains and the government is to decide on next steps following the end of a review period in March 2019.