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Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson has ordered all Huawei technology to be stripped from the U.K.’s 5G phone network by 2027 in a move that will anger China, but appease the Trump administration which wants to block Huawei’s global expansion.
The Chinese telecoms company will be banned from supplying new equipment to the U.K.’s 5G networks from the end of 2020, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced on Tuesday.
The move comes just six months after Johnson refused to bow to intense pressure from the U.S. to ban Huawei from Britain’s 5G network over security fears, and instead limited its market share to 35% of the non-core infrastructure.
In a statement to the House of Commons, Dowden said that the U.K. will be on an “irreversible path” for the complete removal of Huawei equipment from the country’s 5G networks by the next general election in 2024.
Dowden warned that the ban, which will be written into law later this year, would further delay the rollout of 5G by two to three years and cost the phone companies £2 billion ($2.5 billion), which could be passed on in bills to consumers.
Read:Johnson Set to Ban Huawei From U.K.’s 5G Networks Amid Pressure from MPs and U.S.
Huawei called on the U.K. government to reconsider a ban on the purchase of its 5G equipment, saying London had reacted to pressure from Washington rather than security concerns, according to AFP.
“Regrettably, our future in the U.K. has become politicized, this is about U.S. trade policy, not security,” said the Chinese telecoms giant’s U.K. spokesman, Ed Brewster, who called the move “disappointing,” according to the report.
Read:Five Things To Know About Huawei
Just hours before the announcement, former BP BP, +0.96% chief executive John Browne said he would step down as chairman of Huawei’s U,K. board in September.
Dowden said Huawei’s existing equipment — used for 2G, 3G and 4G networks — is considered secure and will not have to be removed from the country’s networks.
The U.K.’s biggest telecom companies, including BT BT.A, +3.60% and Vodafone VOD, +1.55%, have warned of widespread blackouts if they are forced to replace Huawei’s equipment too quickly.
In May the U.S. banned Huawei from sourcing microchips which use American technology and this policy resulted in U.K. officials reassessing their view of the sustainability of using the Chinese company’s equipment in 5G networks.
