Huawei ban: What the government's major U-turn means for you

The UK government will ban Huawei equipment from 5G networks in a decision that could have wide-ranging effects on both international relations and everyday phone users.

The announcement – which followed months of concerns that the equipment could be used to spy on data networks and citizens – comes amid increasing pressure on Huawei and China from the US, and trade tensions between the two countries. It puts the UK firmly on the side of the US, which has already imposed sanctions on the company.

But aside from the geopolitics of the issue, the decision could mean significant changes for anyone who uses a phone in the UK.

Huawei itself has described the decision as "bad news for anyone in the UK with a mobile phone". But the government has said that it was necessary to protect exactly those citizens, and that it will work to minimise disruption.

The ban means that buying new Huawei 5G equipment will be banned at the end of the year, and that all Huawei equipment must be removed from UK 5G networks by the end of 2027. The existing ban on Huawei kit from the most sensitive "core" parts of the network is still in place.

But for daily users, most obvious and probably significant change is that the work to strip Huawei out of the 5G network will delay the rollout of that technology by two to three years, as well as costing billions of pounds.

The introduction of 5G has been widely hailed as a potentially transformative technology, since it allows for much faster connections, not only for phones but for any other device that can talk to the internet. That extra speed for the moment remains largely in the future: very few phones are currently able to use 5G networks, and the rollout of devices as well as the network is likely to be slow, meaning that the delay will probably hit fewer people than it would if it affected 4G networks, for example.

(Huawei does provide equipment used in those existing 4G networks, but that is not covered by the new ban, despite complaints by some MPs such as Iain Duncan Smith that it should be. As such, those far more popular networks which are used by most modern smartphones should continue working as normal.)

With any delay to the infrastructure, users may not be able to get the full value out of their 5G phones, some of which are already out, but many more of which will arrive over the coming months. Some of the more revolutionary applications for 5G – which have included the suggestion that small devices could be given reliable internet connections to make them smart, and the ability to conduct even surgery remotely – might also be held back if the technology is not there.

As such, the Huawei ban is less likely to affect any technology you currently have, or rely on. Instead, the main difference it will make is when certain new products arrive or become useful in the future – or whether they will arrive at all.

Apart from the delay in its introduction, there is likely to be no obvious change as a result of the move away from Huawei equipment. The products that power the infrastructure underlying mobile data connections are largely invisible to users, and the new network is expected to function in the same way after the change is complete.

Other companies are theoretically able to offer the same coverage and functions, and to take over from Huawei. Some have already committed to work in Huawei's stead, with Arun Bansal, Ericsson's president of Europe and Latin America, saying that it "stands ready to work with the UK operators to meet their timetable, with no disruption to customers".

The US's actions, which led to the ban in the UK, also affect Huawei equipment that is used in fibre broadband networks, such as those that provide home WiFi. But the government indicated that it would only advise that operators transition away from using new Huawei equipment, rather than requiring old equipment to be quickly changed, as with the 5G network.

Taking that approach will help to "support the connections that the public relies on", the government said, while still address the security concerns about Huawei equipment.

The government said that those compromises were required to ensure that the network was safe, even if it also meant that it would not be available as soon as expected.

“5G will be transformative for our country, but only if we have confidence in the security and resilience of the infrastructure it is built upon," said Oliver Dowden, the digital secretary.

“Following US sanctions against Huawei and updated technical advice from our cyber experts, the government has decided it is necessary to ban Huawei from our 5G networks.

“No new kit is to be added from January 2021, and UK 5G networks will be Huawei free by the end of 2027. This decisive move provides the industry with the clarity and certainty it needs to get on with delivering 5G across the UK."

The announcement only covers Huawei equipment used in the phone network's infrastructure, and not Huawei's phones themselves. They remain on sale in the UK – though because of a ban on Google providing products to the company, they are unable to use Android on new devices, and so the phones may not be as fully featured as they would be without the ongoing fallout.

Huawei attacked the decision, but committed to "continue to support our customers".

"This disappointing decision is bad news for anyone in the UK with a mobile phone. It threatens to move Britain into the digital slow lane, push up bills and deepen the digital divide. Instead of ‘levelling up’ the government is levelling down and we urge them to reconsider. We remain confident that the new US restrictions would not have affected the resilience or security of the products we supply to the UK," said Ed Brewster, a spokesperson for Huawei UK.

"Regrettably our future in the UK has become politicised, this is about US trade policy and not security. Over the past 20 years, Huawei has focused on building a better connected UK. As a responsible business, we will continue to support our customers as we have always done.

"We will conduct a detailed review of what today’s announcement means for our business here and will work with the UK government to explain how we can continue to contribute to a better connected Britain."