How will the Huawei decision affect utilities?

The government has banned Huawei from providing 5G equipment for nuclear power stations as part of a wider crackdown on the Chinese telecommunications giant.

Following a meeting of the National Security Council earlier today (28 January), prime minister Boris Johnson backed the introduction of restrictions on high risk vendors (HRVs), like Huawei, in the rollout of the 5G telecommunications network.

These restrictions, which have attracted criticism from the USA for stopping short of an outright ban on the company, are outlined in guidance issued by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

They include “tight restrictions, including exclusions” on high-risk vendors from 5G networks around “sensitive geographic locations” such as nuclear sites and military bases.

It says such firms should also be excluded from all safety related and “safety critical networks” in critical national infrastructure.

This is defined by as assets, facilities, systems, networks or processes, the loss or compromising of which could hit the delivery of essential services or have a “significant impact on national security.

It says: “To fully protect and ensure the availability of these networks, the NCSC recommends that HRVs are excluded from providing equipment into these networks.”

HRVs’ participation on the periphery of the telecoms network, which connect devices and equipment to mobile phone masts, should be a “minority presence” capped at 35 per cent.

The curbs on Huawei’s involvement in nationally significant infrastructure projects has been prompted by concerns that the Chinese government could use the company’s systems as a “backdoor” to undermine UK security.