New UK law: Telecoms operators will be heavily fined if they use high-risk suppliers such as Huawei

Under a new law enacted today (Nov. 24) in the United Kingdom, the country’s telecoms industry could face fines of up to 10 percent of turnover, or £100,000 a day, if it uses equipment made by China’s Huawei in violation of the ban, according to Reuters London.

The report quotes the UK government as saying that the Telecommunications (Security) Bill will raise the security standards of UK telecoms networks and eliminate the threat of high-risk suppliers.

Fearing that U.S. sanctions on chip technology meant Huawei would not be a reliable supplier, the U.K. decided in July to ban U.K. communications service providers from buying Huawei products from the end of this year, while those already installed would have to be completely dismantled by 2027.

The bill enacted today aims to enshrine the decision in law and to manage the risks posed by other high-risk providers in the future, with severe penalties for telecoms operators that break the rules, Reuters said.

Oliver Dowden, the U.K.’s minister for digital, culture and media, said that 5G and networks can only deliver benefits if they are secure and resilient.

He said, “This ground-breaking bill will make the UK’s telecoms security regime one of the most stringent in the world, enabling us to take the necessary steps to protect our networks.”

The UK government stressed that the stricter security standards in the bill will also protect the UK from cyber attacks by other countries and criminals. The U.K. government had also made it clear in July that it was banning Huawei’s technology, both for security reasons and because of previous U.S. sanctions against Huawei.

Huawei said it was disappointed that London authorities tried to exclude it from the 5G rollout.

For his part, Huawei vice president Zhang Guowei pointed out that “the decision was politically motivated rather than based on a fair assessment of the risks.” ; “It is also not in everyone’s best interest, as it will put the UK in the digital slow lane and put the government’s upgrade agenda at risk.”