News analysis
Much ado about Huawei
The UK Government has finally decided to allow Chinese cellular infrastructure vendor Huawei
a limited role in UK 5G networks, but the US is continuing to put pressure on its allies not to use
their kit for security reasons. How will all this play out in the wider world of potential trade deals?
UK mobile network operators
8
February 2020 | www.landmobile.co.uk | Twitter:@Land_Mobile
finally got some clarity from
the Government over the
use of Huawei equipment in
5G networks on 28 January – a decision
they had been waiting for since March
2019. In some respects, the decision will
have been greeted with a half sigh of
relief by the MNOs, or at least BT (EE),
Vodafone and Three. O2 is the only
MNO not to use Huaweiequipment.
The UK decision bans the use of
Huawei equipment in the network core,
so the backbone of the mobile network
is not allowed to contain Huawei kit. Use
of Huawei products in the RAN is limited
to 35 per cent. The Chinese vendor’s
equipment will also be banned from
sensitive geographic areas of the UK,
such as near nuclear power stations and
military bases. MNOs have three years
to comply.
The MNOs have not revealed exactly
what percentage of their networks are
comprised of Huawei gear. The UK
government estimates the vendor’s
market share in the UK is around 44
per cent, so reducing that figure to 35
per cent is going to cost. BT admitted
that the amount of Huawei kit in its EE
network is higher than 35 per cent.
As a consequence, BT’s chief
executive Philip Jansen said on 30 January
that replacing Huawei kit would cost
it around £500m over five years. The
costs could be higher as the 35 per
cent cap also applies to the amount of
5G data trac flowing through Huawei
equipment. More Huawei equipment
may therefore have to come out in hightra
c areas with densepopulations.
The UK government has clearly been
squirming over how to resolve the issue.
The US has been putting pressure on EU
countries and in particular its Five Eyes
intelligence partners (USA, Canada, the
UK, Australia and New Zealand) not to
use Huawei kit. So, Prime Minister Boris
Johnson has tried to keep China at least
partially sweet by not closing the door on
it entirely, while at the same time trying
not to anger his key US ally.
The UK’s position is made even more
awkward following its exit from the EU,
as it wants to strike trade deals with
both China and the USA. US ocials
have already warned that using ‘high-risk’
vendors such as Huawei may aect trade
talks. It should also be remembered
that Huawei’s fellow Chinese 4G/5G
infrastructure vendor ZTE is still entirely
banned from UK networks.
The UK’s stance raises a number of
questions, not least around the fact that
the separation between RAN and core
elements is likely to be more fluid in 5G
networks, as more intelligence is pushed
to the edge of the network. In that
scenario, just how easy will it be to keep
‘sensitive’ core elements out of Huawei
equipment in the more distributed
networks of thefuture?
The UK government has argued
that excluding Huawei (and ZTE) limits
competition, and that is undoubtedly
true. European 5G infrastructure
vendors Ericsson and Nokia (which
swallowed up the fifth main cellular
infrastructure vendor Alcatel-Lucent in
2016) are the only major suppliers left.
Samsung has a much smaller market
presence in 4G and 5G.
The UK’s assertion that Huawei is 18
months ahead of its rivals in 5G and also
cheaper than its European infrastructure
vendor competitors would appear to
be only half true. Cheaper? Well, yes,
apparently so – figures of 20 per cent
are mentioned. More technologically
advanced? Not so, says Ericsson.
“We are not 18 months behind,”
Stella Medlicott, senior VP at Ericsson,
said firmly when asked the question at
an Ericsson analyst and media briefing
in London on 13 February. “We have
all the 5G solutions ready,” confirmed
Fredrik Jejdling, executive VP and head
of business area networks. “Whether
MNOs are ready to roll out 5G depends
a lot on spectrum availability and where
they are in their deployment cycles.”
Ericsson said it has 24 live 5G networks
and 81 commercial contracts, which it
believes is the highest of any vendor. So,
not behind on 5G.
Advocates of OpenRAN wireless
solutions, such as US vendor Parallel
/www.landmobile.co.uk