The UK government has
published more details of its plans to force the removal of Huawei equipment from any 5G networks operating in the country. This decision was originally announced in January.
A new
Telecoms Security Bill will require network operators to stop installing Huawei 5G equipment from the end of September 2021. All Huawei 5G equipment must be removed by the end of 2027. Any network that doesn't follow government directions on what it's calling 'high risk vendors' could face fines of up to 10% of turnover or £100,000 per day.
Alongside this announcement is the publication of a
5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy that points out the risks of now relying on just two main suppliers - Nokia and Ericsson - for network equpment. The government says it''ll spend £250 million to help create a more diverse telecoms supply market, including the establishment of a National Telecoms Lab and funding the SmartRAN Open Network Innovation Centre (SONIC) with
Ofcom and
Digital Catapult.