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LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Britain said a former boss of BT
would lead a task force to advise on opening up the
country's telecoms equipment market after China's Huawei was
banned from participating in the UK's 5G rollout earlier this
year.
Ian Livingston will help create a strategy to boost
competition in the sector and build a more diverse telecoms
supply chain, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport said on Wednesday.
Britain has previously allowed what it terms "high risk"
telecom equipment vendors", notably Huawei, to participate in
building infrastructure because of a lack of alternative
suppliers.
The market is currently dominated by just three companies:
Huawei, Norway's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia
.
The task force will also include Clive Selley, the boss of
BT's Openreach which operates Britain's national broadband
network, and Vodafone UK CTO Scott Petty, as well as
other industry experts.
Britain's digital infrastructure minister Matt Warman said
the task force would work closely with operators, vendors and
suppliers.
It would look also for opportunities to cooperate with
vendors who are not present in the British market, he added.
Warman said the government remained committed to its target
of delivering "gigabit-capable" broadband nationwide by 2025,
although he said getting there would be "tough".
Britain in January said it would allow Huawei to supply up
to 35% of its non-core 5G network, but Prime Minister Boris
Johnson, under pressure from the United States, reversed that
decision in July, saying the Chinese firm's equipment must be
purged by the end of 2027.
(Reporting by Sarah Young and Paul Sandle; editing by Stephen
Addison and Michael Holden)
