UK to block Huawei from core parts of 5G network: source

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will block China’s Huawei Technologies from all core parts of the 5G network and access to non-core parts will be restricted, a security source said.

Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is under intense scrutiny after the United States told allies not to use its technology because of fears it could be a vehicle for Chinese spy operations.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Britain will allow Huawei limited access to the network.

Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of Britain’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said it was very difficult to make a distinction between the core and non-core in 5G due to the way the network is built.

“It still raises concerns,” he told BBC Radio. “The definition of core and non-core is a very difficult one with 5G.

“(5G) does change from a faster internet system into an internet system that can genuinely connect everything, and therefore the distinction between non-core and core is much harder to make.”

In what some have compared to the Cold War arms race, the United States is worried that 5G dominance would give any global competitor such as China an advantage Washington is not ready to accept.

5G, which will offer much faster data speeds and become the foundation stone of many industries and networks, is a revolutionary technology, according to senior Western cyber experts.

Reporting by London bureau; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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