Letter to Daily Telegraph from Stephen Bush, published on 29th January 2020
Criticism of the plan to let the Chinese telecoms company Huawei provide the bulk if not all the nation’s 5G network has largely concentrated on the security implications of the proposed deal (Charles Moore 28th, Nick Timothy 27th January this newspaper). But 5G networks are not just about communications. They are planned to form the basis of the so-called internet of things to which a vast range of consumer goods and commercial products as well as enabling military hardware will be connected.
The provider of the network will specify the way these items will be connected, which will in turn have a profound effect on their actual design. Since China is already the largest source of electrically powered consumer goods in the UK , China’s manufacturing firms will form a myriad of partnerships with Huawei to achieve a virtual monopoly of the UK and other Western electrical goods markets if allowed to.
The way for Britain to work with Huawei on 5G is through a formal joint venture with a wholly-owned British company set up for the purpose by the Government. Huawei would provide access to their present design and manufacture technology in return for its access to the UK market. The exploitation of any technology generated by the joint venture would be shared too. A joint venture like this would protect British security from the inside, vastly enhance British industrial capability, and be a real test of Huawei’s sincerity.