Has Google blocked Huawei from Android apps, what is the Huawei leak row and is 5G coming to the UK?

CHINESE phone giant Huawei has been controversially awarded a role in supplying the UK’s 5G network despite security fears surrounding the firm.

Let’s take a look at the concerns around the telecoms company.

Has Google blocked Huawei from Android apps?

Google has blocked Chinese communications company Huawei from using apps like Google Maps and Gmail on its phones, it is reported.

Huawei, the world’s second biggest phone manufacturer, uses the Google-developed Android operating system on its phones and tablets.

But  has reported that Google has cut off Huawei’s licence – meaning customers will no longer be able to use the company’s popular apps on their phones, and will not have access to security updates.

Existing customers will be able to update their phones and apps, but will not be able to update to a newer version of the Android operating system if one becomes available.

New designs of the Huawei smartphones could also lose access to Google apps if the massive corporation doesn’t find a way around Trump’s new laws in the US for trading with Chinese companies.

Huawei is working on its own operating system that could be coming out as early as autumn 2019.

The company’s phones face losing vital features and updates as the Chinese firm becomes blacklisted by the USA.

Google has been forced to cut off important services for Huawei, so this “Plan B” operating system could actually save Huawei from disaster.

What is the Huawei leak row?

There are fears that the Chinese government is using Huawei technology to spy on people.

But despite these concerns the government’s National Security Council (NSC), chaired by Theresa May, agreed that the Chinese firm would be able to contribute to the new 5G plans for the UK.

The row blew up when details of a NSC meeting were leaked saying Huawei had been given a “non-core” role in building the UK’s 5G network.

A Cabinet probe pointed the finger at Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and he was sacked by Theresa May.

Mr Williamson has strongly denied being the leaker and called the search by Britain’s top civil servant Mark Sedwill a “shabby and discredited witch hunt”.

And he demanded a “proper, full and impartial” investigation to clear his name.

Scotland Yard said the leak did not amount to a criminal offence.

Critics have expressed concerns that China could require the firm to install technological “back door” to spy on or disable the UK’s communications network.

The government is calling for a thorough investigation after high-level discussions about Brits using Huawei technology were leaked.

A discussion was taken at a meeting of the NSC where one minster said that the leaking was “simply not acceptable.”

Senior Tory MPs were shocked after Theresa May granted Huawei a limited role in supplying the future 5G mobile phone network.

Tom Tugendhat, the conservative chairman of Britain’s Foreign Affairs Committee criticised the decision and said that it would make internet users in the UK unsafe.

The brand will be banned from supplying core parts of the network but will get a role in non-core technology, according to the leaks from the NSC.

Mr Tugendhat told BBC Radio 4: “The definition of core and non-core is a very difficult one with 5G.

“5G does change from a faster internet system into an internet system that can genuinely connect everything, and therefore the distinction between non-core and core is much harder to make.”

Huawei’s chairman Liang Hua said the company would be prepared to sign a “no-spy agreement” with the British government in an attempt to reassure politicians.

He told reporters: “We are willing to sign a no-spy agreement with the UK government. No spying; no back doors.”

What is 5G and is it coming to the UK?

Glastonbury is set to be the country’s first festival to use 5G after EE announced that it would be bringing it to the huge music event as masts are set to be erected throughout the fields.

The 5G is the ‘fifth generation’ of mobile networks. It will see faster download speeds and better responsiveness than current 4G services.

Theresa May risks a fresh Cabinet row after giving a Chinese tech giant the green light to supply part of Britain’s 5G network.

Sources claim the National Security Council (NSC) chaired by the PM yesterday agreed Beijing-owned Huawei can have limited access to help build antennae and other “non core” infrastructure.

Insiders insisted last night that the PM was only likely to have given the go-ahead after advice of her top security advisers.

Who are the Five Eyes?

The Five Eyes is an anglophone intelligence alliance of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Together, these countries are regarded as the world’s most comprehensive intelligence alliance of which dates back to the Second World War.

The group originally began with the US and UK, but Canada joined in 1948, followed by Australia and New Zealand in 1956.

The ‘Five Eyes’ term came from the ‘AUS/CAN/NZ/UK/US Eyes Only’ classification level that could have access to classified information.

The US sector of the intelligence grouping wants the others to exclude the company from sensitive information.

Australia last year blocked its networks from using Huawei’s 5G technology.