Security Union Commissioner Julian King published an op-ed in the Guardian on 28 October, in which he recalled that some actors could be excluded from the deployment of 5G. The day before, however, the Sunday Times suggested that the United Kingdom is set to authorise the equipment provided by the Chinese giant Huawei, which brought tensions to the surface.
According to the British weekly, Boris Johnson is preparing to grant Huawei technologies access to the UK’s future 5G telecoms network. More specifically, the Chinese supplier could access the "non-contentious" parts of the network. This rumour confirms a preliminary decision taken under the May government, the publication of which in the press led to the departure of the then Minister of Defence, Gavin Williamson (see EUROPE 12246/12).
In an op-ed entitled 'Europe’s 5G network will be secure - if we work together', dated 28 October, Julian King recalled that there was currently a discussion on technical standards for operators. These "might include restrictions for third-party access, stronger authentication and wider use of encryption and reinforced measures targeting specific parts of the network". He added: "While we’re not specifically targeting any particular company, we’ve said all along that in the next stage of work we may find that some products, services or suppliers raise issues that are very hard to mitigate". (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)