* UK to purge Huawei from 5G by 2027
* No new 5G components to be bought from end of 2020
(Recasts with decision)
By Paul Sandle and Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson
ordered Huawei equipment to be purged completely from Britain's
5G network by 2027, risking the ire of China by signalling that
the world's biggest telecoms equipment maker is no longer
welcome in the West.
The seven-year lag will please telecoms operators such as BT
, Vodafone and Three which feared they
would be forced to spend billions of pounds to rip out Huawei
equipment much faster. But it will delay the roll out of 5G.
The United States has pushed Johnson to reverse his January
decision to grant Huawei a limited role in 5G, while London has
been dismayed by a crackdown in Hong Kong and the perception
China did not tell the whole truth over the coronavirus.
Britain's National Security Council (NSC), chaired by
Johnson, decided on Tuesday to ban the purchase 5G components
from the end of this year and to order the removal of all
existing Huawei gear from the 5G network by 2027.
The cyber arm of Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping agency, the
National Cyber Security Centre, told ministers it could no
longer guarantee the stable supply of Huawei gear after the
United States imposed new sanctions on chip technology.
Telecoms companies will also be told to stop using Huawei in
fixed-line fibre broadband within the next two years. Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Oliver Dowden announced the
decision in parliament.
(Writing by Paul Sandle and Guy Faulconbridge
Editing by William Maclean and Peter Graff)
Vodafone (VOD)
BT (BT.A)
