Ministers 'let Huawei off the hook' after canceling security report

Ms. Dorries was Minister for Culture when the decision was made to quietly end the review. Photo: ANDY RAIN/Shutterstock

Carriers including BT have successfully campaigned to get more time to remove Huawei technology from so-called «core» parts of their networks after warning that the removal process could disrupt service to millions of customers. They originally set a deadline of January 2023, but that deadline has been pushed back.

The ban has given a lot of support to alternative western suppliers Nokia and Ericsson.

HCSEC, based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, is jointly staffed by Huawei and the National Cyber ​​Security Center, an affiliate of GCHQ.

It was established to mitigate «any perceived risks.» UK National Security Council due to Huawei's involvement in some parts of the UK's critical national infrastructure.»

Previous reports have denounced the company's poor engineering and cybersecurity practices, warning that it could pose a national security risk.

The 2020 report says that Huawei «didn't make overall improvements» in line with with the requirements of the UK to improve security.

In its latest 2022 reports, the company that controls HCSEC said it continues to report to the supervisory board. «in the usual way». It is not clear why the reports are no longer being published.

Huawei faces doubts about the future of its business in the UK after auditors said last year that there was «substantial uncertainty» about its ability to continue operations for another 12 months .

A ban on UK companies buying equipment from a Chinese tech firm, combined with US trade sanctions, mean the UK division is currently in a manageable decline.

Earlier this year, Huawei quietly shelved plans to build a research campus in Cambridge worth £1bn, which would be used to develop broadband technologies, microchips and AI software.

According to the latest reports, Huawei Technologies UK sales have halved to £481m in 2021, and the number of employees was reduced from 787 to 486.

A government spokesman said: «We do not comment on speculation.»

«Thanks to new laws, we now have one of the strongest telecommunications security regimes in the world we used to refer to Huawei is a high-risk provider and has given carriers clear instructions to monitor its presence on their networks.

“The UK has been conducting world-leading and thorough monitoring of Huawei’s presence already more than ten years, and this is to continue.”