As we heard last year, the UK government has decided to ban mobile providers from buying Huawei’s 5G equipment in a move to detach the Chinese technology giant from UK’s 5G mobile network infrastructure by 2027. This news sounds scandalous to most of us, but it’s still foreseeable due to incessant economic sanctions from the United States to China.
Why is Huawei 5G banned from the UK?
As we all know, the principal reason is the trade war between the United States and China. The United States has banned business with Huawei and requires its allies not to utilize 5G networks. In July, the UK government ordered the complete removal of Huawei kit from the entire 5G network by 2027, amid pressure from the US.
It is important to note that the US is the largest trade partner of the UK, especially after Brexit.
Impact of Huawei ban
For the UK, the ban will cause a significant impact on the UK’s networks. In comparison with 4G, 5G has download speeds 10 times faster and offers more effective and stable networks. According to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden‘s forecast, without Huawei’s 5G equipment, UK’s 5G networks would be delayed by 2 to 3 years and an additional cost of £2bn.
As for the consumers, the newly released phones like Huawei P40 and P40 Pro, Mate 30 series and Honor 30 series can’t provide Android and preloaded Google apps like YouTube, the Google Play Store or Google Assistant. Users only download apps via the Huawei AppGallery download store, but it doesn’t offer many apps for now. Therefore, it indicates a worrisome issue for long-term use, although the company has made efforts to improvise.
Is Huawei safe in the UK?
This hot topic’s focus of attention is its security. Many people ask this question often ‘is Huawei reliable for the West?’ And the US indicates that Huawei can utilise its 5G equipment for spying by embracing its role in communication.
According to the supervision of the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre, founded by the National Cyber Security Centre, there is no evidence of Huawei’s spying activities but some software engineering defects and cyber-security competence.
According to a report published by Sky News, last year, BT Group and Vodafone executives warned parliament that if the government instructed them to completely remove Huawei’s equipment from their networks suddenly, it would cost billions of pounds and lead to customers losing phone signal for several days.
BT’s chief technology and information officer, Howard Watson said it was “logically impossible” to remove all of the Huawei equipment from the company’s networks within a three year period.
“That would literally mean blackouts for customers on 4G and 2G, as well as 5G, throughout the country as we were to build that in. So we would definitely not recommend that we go down that route,” said Watson
Is it worth getting a Huawei phone?
Now the question remains ‘should I buy a Huawei phone?’. My short answer to the question is ‘Yes’ because, in my opinion, the issue with Huawei seems non-existent as the NCSC has not yet produced any evidence reflecting the proof of Huawei’s spying activities. It is also worth noting that the concern raised by the US about Huawei’s 5G equipment is completely based on its trade rivalry with China. On top of that, it is forcing its trade partners like the UK to follow in its footsteps – seems more like an act of immorality.
Obviously, the 5G equipment is critical to how the internet functions as it links the network chain between the mobile devices and the data centres hosting the content that people access, but we have already heard comments from telecom giants including BT and Vodafone favouring Huawei.
Speaking of Huawei devices, everyone knows that the company provides high-quality at reasonable pricing. The mobile cameras are also worth a mention. Although now Huawei UK has been banned from using the Google Play Store, its own App Gallery is in the process of improving and intends to provide more apps for users soon.
Besides this, the company has formulated a resolution ‘HarmonyOS’, its own operating system – offering a great experience to the users. Also, the 5G technology of Huawei is one of the most prominent in the world.
Let me know your views in the comments below!
