UK Government Reverses Course on Huawei and Contact-Tracing Apps in 2020
The UK government makes major U-turns in 2020 by banning Huawei from 5G networks and abandoning a centralized contact-tracing app for Apple and Google's decentralized model.
The year 2020 brings unprecedented changes to the technology landscape as the UK government takes a firm stance against Huawei. Initially imposing a 35% cap on Huawei hardware in critical networks, officials quickly escalate the restrictions by ordering a complete removal of the Chinese telecom giant's equipment from the country's 5G network by 2027.
Lawmakers toughen this ban by introducing legislation that threatens telecom companies with massive daily fines of up to £100,000 for violating the restrictions. The government eventually moves the deadline forward to September 2021, a decision that delays the UK's 5G rollout by up to two years and costs up to £2 billion.
Another major reversal occurs when the UK government abandons its plans for a centralized coronavirus contact-tracing app. After initially attempting to build a custom system, officials pivot to the decentralized API model developed by Apple and Google to better preserve user privacy while tracking the spread of the virus.