The UK government confirmed a review on the impact of additional US sanctions on Huawei and how tightened restrictions could affect mobile networks in the country, sparking doubts about the vendor’s future involvement.

In a statement, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) told Mobile World Live it was reviewing the potential impact US sanctions on Huawei could have on UK networks.

“The security and resilience of our networks is of paramount importance,” said a spokesperson for the UK government.

Its review comes four months after operators were given the green light to use Huawei 5G equipment in non-sensitive parts of networks, subject to a 35 per cent limit.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson then faced a revolt within his own party, with several MPs arguing that Huawei should be banned on security grounds. The government won a vote to keep its original decision in place on the issue in early March.

However, the situation appears to have changed again after the US moved in mid-May to restrict Huawei’s access to components produced overseas using US software and technology, adding further scrutiny on the company after it was placed on a trade blacklist in the country a year ago.

Huawei confused
NCSC’s confirmation of a review comes after several media reports in the UK indicated Prime Minister Boris Johnson was set to give in to pressure from within his party and the US, and would cut Huawei from UK networks entirely by 2023.

In response, Huawei’s VP Victor Zhang said in a statement over the weekend that it had “seen reports from unnamed sources which simply don’t make sense”.

He continued: “The government decided in January to approve our part in the 5G rollout, because Britain needs the best possible technologies, more choice, innovation and more suppliers, all of which means more secure and more resilient networks.”