Huawei phone equipment in UK to be dismantled amid fears they could be used by China to spy on people

BT is removing Huawei technology from the phone networks amid fears that the Chinese government could be using its infrastructure to spy on citizens.

The company says it will no longer use Huawei's equipment in its existing 3G and 4G networks, and that it would not use it to build the 5G ones that it is building at the moment.

It is just the latest operator to announce that it would not use the Chinese companies equipment amid fears that phone messages they are relaying could be intercepted.

New Zealand and Australia have stopped telecom operators using Huawei's equipment in new 5G networks because they are concerned about possible Chinese government involvement in their communications infrastructure.

Huawei, the world's biggest network equipment maker ahead of Ericsson and Nokia, has said Beijing has no influence over its operations.

BT said Huawei's equipment had not been used in the core of its fixed-line network, and it was removing it from the core of the mobile networks it acquired when it bought operator EE.

It said the process was to bring the EE networks into line with the rest of its business rather than a change of policy.

"In 2016, following the acquisition of EE, we began a process to remove Huawei equipment from the core of our 3G and 4G networks, as part of network architecture principles in place since 2006," a BT spokesman said.

He said the company would apply the same principles to its next-generation mobile networks.

"As a result, Huawei have not been included in vendor selection for our 5G core," he said.

"Huawei remains an important equipment provider outside the core network, and a valued innovation partner," he added.

The chief of Britain's foreign intelligence services said this week that 5G reliance on Chinese technology was something Britain needed to discuss.

Huawei has been in Britain for more than 17 years, with its equipment checked and monitored by a special company laboratory overseen by government and intelligence operators.

Huawei said it had been working with BT for almost 15 years, and since the beginning of its partnership, BT had been operating on a principle of different vendors for different layers of its network.

"This is a normal and expected activity, which we understand and fully support," it said in a statement.

It said it began working with EE in 2012, and had supplied the mobile operators with 3G and 4G network solutions, including core network equipment.

"We have never had a cyber security-related incident," it said. "Huawei has a robust cyber security assurance system and a proven track record."

Additional reporting by Reuters