"Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo spoke with UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab today and discussed the UK’s decision to prevent the use of unsecure technology in its 5G networks," Ortagus said on Thursday. "The Secretary and Foreign Secretary agreed to work together to promote the development of additional trusted 5G solutions."
On Tuesday, UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden said that the British government would ban Huawei-produced equipment for 5G networks at the end of the year.
In addition, UK mobile providers will have to completely remove Huawei equipment from the country's 5G networks by 2027. According to Dowden, this decision was made due to national security considerations and sanctions imposed by the United States against Huawei.
The decision marks a significant U-turn for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who previously stated the Chinese tech giant would be allowed to work on non-sensitive parts of the United Kingdom’s 5G network.
In late June, Huawei was given the approval to begin work on an optoelectronic research and development center in the UK city of Cambridge. The company said it plans to invest $1.2 billion into the site, which will create roughly 400 jobs.
The United Kingdom is one among several states that have introduced restrictions against Huawei after the United States imposed sanctions on the company due to allegations that the company was working with the Chinese government. Huawei has rejected the claims as unjustified and politically motivated and says they contradict competitive practices.
