Vodafone has warned that the UK's hopes of leading the world in 5G technology would be dealt a terminal blow if the government removes Huawei from the country’s telecoms infrastructure.
Boris Johnson is facing mounting pressure from Washington and from within his own government to exclude Huawei, even though the company’s equipment in the UK is central to delivering 5G, new mobile technology that delivers vast amounts of data over wireless networks at fast speeds.
The prospect of a full ban on Huawei equipment has increased since last month, when a branch of GCHQ, the signals intelligence agency, launched an emergency review on the back of new US sanctions aimed at the Chinese company.