Huawei has been banned from participating in a £65m government scheme to explore how next-generation 5G technology can drive businesses and connect communities across the UK.
The government set up the scheme last year, calling on businesses and communities to apply for funding to trial the vast potential of 5G technology.
The first trials to receive funds include: exploring the use of the new technology to monitor the environment in North Yorkshire in an effort to develop an early warning system for flooding; experimenting with how 5G can help coastal search and rescue in Dorset; and testing how it can help the production of electric vehicles in a project led by Ford and Vodafone.
However, the government, which announced on Thursday that its funding for the scheme would increase from £35m to £65m, said it would not award any funds to projects that aimed to involve the Chinese telecoms equipment group Huawei.
“None of the winning projects, or future projects, will use equipment from high risk vendors,” the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.
Last month, the government, which has deemed Huawei to be a high-risk supplier because of its Chinese ownership, announced limits on the use of the firm’s equipment in the 5G networks being rolled out across the UK.
The government has said Huawei is allowed to be involved in the non-core parts of the UK’s 5G network, the masts and towers, but with a 35% cap on use of the firm’s equipment. Huawei equipment is banned from use in the core of 5G mobile networks, where data is processed, and from sensitive locations such as those near nuclear sites and military bases.
BT, which owns the mobile operator EE, said complying with the new regulations would cost it £500m as it stripped out and replaced Huawei equipment in its network over the next five years. Vodafone has said it will cost €200m (£169m) to comply across Europe, although in the UK it is already almost compliant.
The government has committed to a total £200m investment in testbeds and trials across the UK to explore new ways 5G can be used, such as in farming, connectivity on trains, connecting rural communities, tourism and healthcare.
“We’re determined to make the UK a world-leader in 5G and deliver on our promise to improve connections for people and businesses across the country,” said Oliver Dowden, the DCMS secretary. “This includes seeing how it could create new jobs in the countryside, make businesses more productive and unleash even more ideas in our cutting-edge creative industries.”
