US 'Disappointed' by UK Decision to Use Huawei 5G: Official

The United States is "disappointed" by London's decision to approve plans to use technology from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei in the country's 5G cellular network, a US official said Tuesday.

"There is no safe option for untrusted vendors to control any part of a 5G network," a senior administration official said in a statement to AFP. "The United States is disappointed by the UK's decision."

Washington has banned Huawei from the rollout of the next-generation mobile network that offers almost instantaneous data transfer because of concerns that the firm could be under the control of Beijing, an allegation it strongly denies.

London's decision after a meeting of the National Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson came shortly after Brussels said it would allow Huawei a limited 5G role in the European Union.

"High risk vendors never have been and never will be in our most sensitive networks," Britain's Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan said, and such vendors will be excluded from sensitive locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases, while their market share is to be capped.

The US has threatened to limit intelligence sharing with London in the event of Huawei winning a UK role.

The matter could also meanwhile hinder the chances of a favourable Britain-US trade deal after Brexit, analysts say.

"We look forward to working with the UK on a way forward that results in the exclusion of untrusted vendor components from 5G networks," the US official said.

"We continue to urge all countries to carefully assess the long-term national security and economic impacts of allowing untrusted vendors access to important 5G network infrastructure."

© Thomson Reuters 2020