The UK now looks set to exile Huawei from its 5G networks

The UK government looks set to reverse its previous decision to allow Huawei in its national 5G networks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told officials to create plans to eliminate the use of Huawei's equipment in national 5G networks by 2023.

An emergency review announced on Sunday will see the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the UK evaluate whether additional US sanctions against Huawei will make it difficult to use the Chinese vendor’s...

26 May 2020 | 5G

T-Mobile’s free 5G service for emergency responders goes live

T-Mobile has launched its “Connecting Heroes” initiative which gives free 5G connectivity to emergency responders.

Yesterday, the company teased a new “Un-carrier” announcement would be made today. Now we know what it is.

Connecting Heroes was first announced last year as part of T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint. T-Mobile pledged to give emergency responders 10 years of free wireless service.

Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile, says:

“When we’re...

22 May 2020 | 5G

AT&T is ditching its controversial 5G-E branding

AT&T has announced that it is ditching its controversial 5G-E branding following claims that it's misleading.

One morning, some AT&T customers woke up to find a "5G-E" icon in their status bar. Many probably fist-pumped the air in the belief that they've been upgraded for free to this latest generation mobile network people have been talking about.

In reality, 5G-E is a LTE network. AT&T argued that it wasn't misleading as the "E" stands for "Evolution" and...

21 May 2020 | Consumers

Over 2,000 complaints were sent to the FCC relating to COVID-19

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has revealed that the telecoms regulator has received over 2,000 complaints relating to COVID-19.

Speaking to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Pai said the FCC has received around 2,200 complaints relating to the pandemic. Of the complaints, around 1,400 have received a response so far.

Approximately 500 of the complaints were specifically filed under the Keep Americans Connected pledge which the FCC announced in response to the...

20 May 2020 | Broadband

FCC chief wants Congress to prevent spectrum auction by changing law

fcc ajit pai t band spectrum auction congress telecoms

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has called on Congress to change a law which mandates a spectrum auction that he believes is against America's interests.

“An FCC auction of the T-band is a bad idea. But as of today, the law mandates that we do it,” Pai said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate that Commission resources must be dedicated to laying the groundwork for an auction that will likely fail.”

The FCC is currently legally-obliged to auction off space in the 470-512MHz...

19 May 2020 | Connectivity

UK gov faces human rights lawsuit for granting Huawei 5G role

The UK government is facing a lawsuit from human rights activists following the decision to grant Huawei a role in 5G networks.

Lawyers representing two Uyghur activists will send a letter warning the British government of court action if it presses on with the plan to grant the Chinese telecoms giant a role – claiming it breaks UK human rights and EU procurement rules.

The activists campaign against Beijing’s treatment of Muslim minorities, predominantly in the...

18 May 2020 | 5G

Trump extends Huawei ban order until at least May 2021

President Trump has extended an executive order banning Huawei’s telecoms equipment until at least May 2021.

The executive order, first issued last year, bans US companies from using Huawei’s equipment over alleged security risks.

While the renewed order does not specifically name any company, US lawmakers have repeatedly shared their concerns that Chinese telecoms vendors like Huawei and ZTE are controlled by Beijing and pose a national security threat – an...

14 May 2020 | 5G

O2 and Virgin Media confirm historic £31 billion merger

The rumours proved to be true: O2 and Virgin Media have confirmed their intention to merge in a £31 billion deal.

Telefonica and Liberty Global, owners of O2 and Virgin Media respectively, have put out a joint statement today confirming the 50-50 joint venture which “brings together Virgin Media, the UK’s fastest broadband network, and O2, the country’s largest mobile platform.”

Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete, CEO of Telefonica, said: “Combining O2’s number one...

7 May 2020 | 5G

Huawei and China Mobile bring 5G connectivity to Everest’s summit

Huawei and China Mobile have partnered up to bring 5G connectivity to the summit of the world’s highest mountain.

The partners set up a 5G base station 6,500 metres above ground which provides access to China Mobile’s dual-gigabit network. Other base stations were built at the Base Camp (5,300 metres) and the Transition Camp (5,800 metres).

A dozen specialists will be stationed at all times across the three camps to ensure the network operates...

1 May 2020 | 5G

Cybersecurity expert warns MPs that delaying 5G will harm Britain

A cybersecurity expert has warned that delaying the 5G rollout due to concerns about Chinese vendors poses a greater threat to Britain.

Emily Taylor, CEO of Oxford Information Labs, told a sub-committee examining the security of the UK’s 5G network:

“The risk to the country is, if we decide we are so unhappy with the idea of a high risk vendor being in our infrastructure – despite the fact that vendor has been in our infrastructure for the past 15 years – we are...

29 April 2020 | 5G