LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) - British security officials have
told UK telecom operators to ensure they have adequate
stockpiles of Huawei equipment due to fears that new U.S.
sanctions will disrupt the Chinese firm's ability to maintain
critical supplies, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
Senior officials at the National Cyber Security Centre
(NCSC), who are studying the impact of new U.S. measures
intended to restrict Huawei's ability to source advanced
microchips, wrote to Britain's BT Group and Vodafone
last week, said three people familiar with the matter.
The NCSC told the companies they needed to maintain adequate
supplies of spare parts from all manufacturers, but emphasised
the increased risk to Huawei's equipment and its future ability
to provide software updates for those products in the face of
U.S. pressure.
"Ensuring that products and components are kept up to date
is essential to maintaining the security of networks," the
letter said. "Escalating U.S. action against Huawei may affect
its ability to provide updates for products containing U.S.
technology."
An NCSC spokeswoman said: "The NCSC has provided operators
with a series of precautionary steps we recommend they take
while we carefully consider the impact these sanctions have on
the UK's networks."
BT and Vodafone declined to comment. A Huawei spokesman said
the company was cooperating fully with the NCSC and declined
immediate further comment.
(Reporting by Jack Stubbs and Kate Holton; Editing by Kirsten
Donovan)
Vodafone (VOD)
BT (BT.A)
