Operators will be relieved the Government hasn’t set a deadline for the complete removal of Huawei from fibre networks, something that could have significantly impacted rollout plans
The Government formalises what was announced two years ago: In 2020, the UK Government decided operators must remove Huawei equipment from 5G networks by 2027, and to create a new legal framework for network security under the Telecoms Security Act. Following the approval of the Act in November 2021, the Government is now taking the next steps to create the legal instruments under which operators will meet these requirements. On 20 February, the Government opened a consultation on the legal directions. These include a ‘designated vendor direction’ (which contains the requirements operators will need to follow) and a ‘designation notice’ to categorise Huawei as a high-risk vendor. The consultation is open to operators and to Huawei as the proposed high-risk vendor.
The proposals generally reflect what industry already knew: The Government’s initial proposal is in line with the policy announced in 2020, and as such will come as little surprise to operators. For 5G, it confirms the immediate requirement to refrain from installing any new Huawei equipment procured after 31 December 2020. By 28 January 2023 operators will need to remove Huawei equipment from the core network, and by 31 July 2023 they will have to reduce the share of Huawei equipment in the access network to 35% (this is six months later than initially proposed). This should fall to 0% by 2027. For fibre networks, operators will have to immediately refrain from installing equipment affected by US sanctions. By 31 July 2023 they will have to reduce the share of Huawei equipment in the access network to 35%. Finally, operators will have to remove high data rate intra-core and inter-operator transmission equipment (hardware which sends data across a network without processing it) from all networks by 31 December 2025.
Fibre builders have avoided a complete rip and replace: Fixed line operators (such as CityFibre and Openreach) will be particularly relieved the Government hasn’t set a deadline for the complete removal of Huawei from fibre networks – a concern that could have significantly affected their rollout plans. As the Government notes, it’s therefore reasonable to expect that these decisions will not affect the commitment to bring gigabit-capable broadband to at least 85% of the UK by 2025.
