What Does the Huawei Ban Mean for Construction?

THE UK GOVERNMENT has released its decision to ban telecoms giant Huawei from its 5G network by 2027, after US sanctions claimed the Chinese tech firm poses a massive security threat to the nation.

Some of the UK’s biggest mobile network operators are now looking at ways to remove traces of Huawei technology from their infrastructure. Likewise, it will now be incumbent upon individual companies to also evaluate the risks to their security, especially in white-labelled hardware which may have Huawei tech under the bonnet.

In a time where data is a company’s most precious commodity, this move towards greater security and protection is urgent.

Huawei kit

Kevin Latimer from Trench Networks said, “As with many companies, we had used Huawei when we first started the business. However, we swiftly moved away from the provider just over a year ago after one of our clients expressed that they didn’t want any Huawei kit in anything they were using.”

“We reacted quickly to this issue and shifted manufacturers to alternative 4G IP without links to Huawei that would continue to deliver on cost, performance and, most importantly, meet the security demands of the end users.”

“It’s important to be flexible and guide yourself with integrity, for the benefit of your customers”, adds Kevin.

“The government has announced that this is a massive security issue. At the moment there are so many generic routers on the market that contain Huawei kit. We should now work proactively to eliminate any risk, and of course help the companies to move away from Huawei.”

4G risks

Even though the news puts some plans into place, the ban will only apply to forthcoming 5G networks and not the current 3G and 4G connections, raising some questions on the present security risks and exposure to Huawei.

“Consumers have little control when it comes to sending data over cellular networks”, said Kevin. “It is why we always encrypt all data that is transferred across devices so that nothing is compromised. Encryption is present right across the cellular network until it gets to our kit, which is in our UK datacentres. With this level of encryption there is no way the data can land into the wrong hands – and that applies to cases where pieces of Huawei kit are present.”

“Whilst information regarding the ban is still relatively ambiguous, we want to stress that here at Trench Networks we put customer data first. We have the insight and practical knowledge in place and want to assure construction customers their information can be kept completely secure.”