Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with local authorities on ways to speed up the replacement of Huawei equipment in mobile towers and other telecoms premises.

On 14 July the Government announced that Huawei equipment will be removed from the UK’s 5G networks by the end of 2027 following the introduction of further US sanctions against Huawei in May 2020. The process by which mobile operators comply with the Government’s decision on Huawei will be subject to decisions for which the operators themselves are responsible.

The Government engages regularly with local authorities across the United Kingdom, and advises on matters of network deployment. However, it is ultimately the operator’s commercial decision as to what supplier they choose and equipment they deploy.