UK extends deadline for removing Huawei equipment from network
The UK government has extended the January 2023 deadline for removing equipment made by Huawei in China from 5G and broadband networks.
A legal designated vendor direction has been sent to 35 telecoms companies in the UK to put the requirement to remove equipment on a legal footing. BT had previously highlighted the challenges of removing equipment from the core network by the preliminary deadline of January 2023.
The new deadline is the end of 2023, although equipment at ‘sites significant to national security’ has to be removed by 28 January 2023. All Huawei equipment has to be removed from 5G networks by the end of 2027.
“For a small number of operators, the two interim deadlines for the core and 35 per cent of the full fibre access network could have led to network outages and disruption for customers, due to delays caused by the pandemic and global supply chain issues,” said the government.
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The ban on Huawei in 5G follows guidance from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) that the security of the company’s products such as equipment used at phone mast sites and telephone exchanges can no longer be managed due to the impact of US sanctions on its supply chain.
“Society increasingly relies on telecoms and the NCSC, government and industry partners work closely to help ensure that these networks are secure and resilient in the long term. “The Telecoms Security Act ensures we can be confident in the resilience of the everyday services on which we rely, and the legal requirements in this Designated Vendor Direction are a key part of the security journey, said Dr Ian Levy, Technical Director at the NCSC.
“It’s no secret that Huawei equipment is entrenched in UK networks. Removing Huawei is not a straightforward task, particularly given the supply chain challenges that telcos are facing when trying to acquire new equipment,” said Darren Pearce, Group CEO at TXO, a UK supplier of refurbished telecoms equipment.
“A way to overcome the supply chain challenge, and introduce alternative network technology to replace Huawei, is to turn to the circular economy. There are huge volumes of pre-owned equipment, some of it new, sitting in warehouses, that could be deployed in networks today to replace Huawei gear. Doing so could help UK telcos meet the new 2023 target,” he said.
The UK government has also been promoting Open RAN as a way around the challenges of replacing the equipment and securing a UK supply chain.
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Huawei has been issued a separate designation notice which categorises the company as a high-risk vendor of 5G network equipment and services. The designation notice sets out all of the reasons for which the government considers Huawei to pose a national security risk, including the impact of the sanctions.
The ban also impacts on broadband networks, with a limit of 35 per cent for Huawei equipment in the full fibre access network by 31 October 2023 and a requirement not to install any Huawei equipment that has been affected by US sanctions in full fibre networks.
The UK regulator Ofcom will oversee, monitor and enforce the new regulations and code and have the power to carry out inspections of telecoms premises and systems. The regulator will be able to issue fines of up to 10 per cent of turnover or, in the case of a continuing contravention, £100,000 per day.
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