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Lord Sugar reiterated calls for the UK to fast track the rollout of 5G mobile network services
The UK’s former business Tsar, Alan Sugar, has backed Chinese technology giant Huawei to be involved in the UK’s 5G mobile network rollout. Sugar took to Twitter on Monday to voice his support for the world’s biggest mobile network equipment provider, saying that US allegations were motivated by commercial interests rather than a genuine concern for network security.
"The 5G Huawei issue is a total joke. There is no security issue with China. This BS is driven by USA, [it is] not about security, it’s about business. Huawei competitors in the USA [are] trying to block them from the market. We must not fall for this! Huawei are great engineers, we need 5G ASAP," he said.
Huawei has faced a slew of allegations from the US about the security of its 5G network architecture. The US government claims that Huawei’s kit leaves backdoors through which the Chinese government can conduct acts of espionage. The US has yet to provide any evidence to corroborate these allegations.
Huawei has received support from a host of international telcos across Europe, with Vodafone’s CEO, Nick Read, saying that any ban on Huawei in the UK would cost telcos hundreds of millions of dollars and delay the rollout of 5G by at least a year.
Last week the UK government hinted that it would be prepared to work with Huawei on security, allowing it to be involved in the country’s 5G network rollout programme.
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