The UK has banned Huawei from 'core' parts of its 5G network. Here's what that actually means.
- The UK announced on Tuesday it would allow Chinese tech firm Huawei to play a limited role in building its 5G networks.
- Guidance issued by the UK's National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) bans Huawei from building any "core" equipment and limits the amount of "non-core" kit it can install to 35% of the overall network.
- Telecoms expert Peter Clarke told Business Insider that short of an all-out ban the decision "couldn't be much worse" for mobile operators.
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The UK government announced on Tuesday it would allow Chinese tech giant Huawei to build limited amounts of its 5G telecoms infrastructure, defying pressure from the Trump administration to freeze the firm out completely.
The US has been urging allies to freeze out Huawei on the grounds that it believes the firm aids Chinese state spying. UK's National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) decided however that although Huawei is a "high-risk vendor" it can mitigate the risks.
In a statement sent to Business Insider the UK's Department for Culture, Media, and Sport said Huawei would be:
- Excluded from security-critical "core" functions, the sensitive part of the network.
- Excluded from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases.
- Limited to a minority presence of no more than 35% in the periphery of the network.
The difference between "core" and "non-core"
The distinction between core and non-core telecoms equipment is not always black and white, but essentially non-core equipment (i.e. that which is used in the network periphery) is only able to relay data and has no access to what's contained within.
"Effectively [the equipment] just acts like pipes really, pipes that carry encrypted traffic in them. So the pipes can't really see what they're carrying," telecoms expert Peter Clarke told Business Insider. An example of a piece of non-core equipment is the antennas that communicate with people's smartphones via radio.
The core network meanwhile handles much more sensitive information. This doesn't signal too much of a change for UK operators, as they have mostly steered clear of installing Huawei core kit already. "Certainly already Huawei's not too present within core networks that handle things like billing, and personal information about customers," Clarke said.
On the non-core side however Huawei is fairly prominent, and the 35% cap will be a major blow to UK operators.
"Outside an outright ban this couldn't be much worse for the operators," said Peter Clarke, adding specifically that EE and BT-owned Openreach already have Huawei kit making up more than 35% of their peripheral networks. He noted that major British operator Three had been planning a total swap to Huawei equipment for its 5G rollout.
NCSC's technical director Ian Levy wrote in a blog post the 35% figure is geared towards preventing Britain from becoming overly reliant on Huawei. "The cap at 35% ensures the UK will not become nationally dependent on a high-risk vendor while retaining competition in the market," he wrote.
How are the UK telecoms operators responding?
The UK's mobile operators - BT and EE, Three, O2, and Vodafone - will now have to set about calculating what kind of damage the decision will do, and the NCSC said it would give them three years to adhere to its new guidelines.
In response to the decision, Three's CEO Dave Dyson said in a statement: "We note the government's announcement and are reviewing the detail."
A spokeswoman added that Huawei is contracted to build Three's non-core equipment, and its core equipment is handled by Nokia.
"This decision is an important clarification for the industry," a BT spokeswoman told BI. "The security of our networks is an absolute priority for BT, and we already have a long-standing principle not to use Huawei in our core networks.
"While we have prepared for a range of scenarios, we need to further analyse the details and implications of this decision before taking a view of potential costs and impacts."
BT started removing Huawei kit from the core of its 3G and 4G networks in 2018.
A Vodafone spokesman also said the company doesn't use Huawei in its core tech.
"[Vodafone] will now analyse the potential impact of today's decision on the non-core elements of its network (masts and transmission links). Vodafone UK uses a mix of Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia equipment for its 4G and 5G masts, and we continue to believe that the use of a wide range of equipment vendors is the best way to safeguard the delivery of services to all mobile customers. By working closely with the relevant authorities on any required substitution of equipment and it's timing, we aim to keep any potential disruption to customers to a minimum," he said.
An O2 spokeswoman said Huawei kit makes up less than 1% of the company's network equipment.
"Huawei kit makes up less than 1% of our owned network infrastructure. We will continue to develop our 5G network with minimum disruption with our primary vendors Nokia and Ericsson. Whilst we agree with the government that diversity of supply is the best way to serve customers, careful consideration must be given to the distinction between 'core' and 'non-core' as 5G networks develop and evolve. We'll now take time to review the full report."
