The British government has strongly
5G mobile networks, according to a Reuters
report on 23 January. Huawei will be banned
from supplying core network equipment, but it
may be allowed to contribute to other non-core
parts of the network.
No official decision had been announced as
CCT went to press, but the recommendation to
allow Huawei a role was apparently made at a
government meeting on Wednesday, 22
January, Reuters reported. Sources said Britain’s
National Security Council was due to meet
the following week to decide how to deploy
Huawei equipment.
The recommendation by Boris Johnson’s
government is very similar to the provisional
position set out by former Prime Minister
Theresa May last year. The move is in stark
contrast to the wishes of Britain’s key ally, the
8
News
Home Office seeks ESN
direct mode solution
www.criticalcomms.com January 2020
UK to allow Huawei a
limited 5G network role
hinted that it will allow Huawei a
limited role in the roll-out of future UK
US Navy contract win
The US Department of Defense has
awarded Motorola Solutions a $23.8m
contract to sustain the US Navy’s
enterprise land mobile radio (LMR) system,
which co-ordinates the deployment and actions
of the first-responder community at its Navy
bases worldwide.
The LMR network is designed to enable a
co-ordinated response between the Navy and
other agencies involved in public safety. This
inter-agency co-ordination aims to reduce loss of
life and property during crises and incidents.
Under the contract, Motorola Solutions
will provide a range of technologies including
preventive maintenance of hardware and
software, technology and software upgrades,
equipment repair and replacement,
management of software licences and currency,
The Home Office has signalled its intention
to “enter into a market engagement
exercise” for a direct mode, device-todevice
(D2D) solution for devices using the
Emergency Services Network (ESN).
The solution will take the form of
a TETRA-based remote speaker
microphone (RSM) coupled to the ESN
LTE handheld mobile device provided by
Samsung. The contract is estimated to be
worth £40m.
The Home Office’s Emergency Services
Mobile Communications Programme
(ESMCP) published its intention in a
Prior Information Notice (PIN) in the EU’s
Tenders Electronic Daily website on 14
January 2020. ESMCP’s aim is to “discuss
its potential requirements with potential
suppliers in the market of provision of
device to device communications”.
The lack of a reliable D2D solution based
on 3GPP LTE standards has been a
major stumbling block for those countries
looking to migrate their emergency
services from narrowband two-way radio
networks, such as TETRA and P25, to 4G
LTE broadband.
D2D is a vital feature for police and fire
brigades in particular.
3GPP does offer a D2D feature known
as Proximity Services (ProSe), but
the current solution is not deemed an
adequate equivalent to the direct mode
available on TETRA and P25 radios. A
major problem is ProSe’s poor coverage
range compared with TETRA and P25
radios, which have much more powerful
transmitters. In addition, very few
smartphone chip-makers have added
ProSe to their silicon.
ESMCP notes that the long-term
proposal for LTE is to use ProSe to
address the D2D requirement. “However,
this cannot be implemented within the
authority timescales (for reasons including
the immaturity of the standards and
the lack of support in current devices
and networks). An alternative solution
is therefore required to meet the D2D
user requirement until such time as a
standards-based ProSe solution can be
introduced,” the PIN stated.
ESMCP will provide a request for
information (RFI) to interested suppliers
with a number of questions. The RFI
closing date for receipt of responses is
5pm on 5 February 2020.
USA, which has strongly lobbied the UK not
to use Huawei equipment. The US argues the
deployment of Huawei 5G equipment could
compromise security. UK intelligence agencies
previously pointed to security flaws in Huawei
equipment, but have found no evidence of
espionage and believe any risks can be managed.
Experts have warned the difference between
core and non-core elements is much less defined
in 5G networks, as more intelligence will be
moved to the base stations at the edge of the
network. This would make it easier to access the
network from outside the core.
BT, which owns EE, and Vodafone have
argued against a total ban on the use of Huawei
equipment, claiming it could set back the rollout
of fast broadband by two years. Both already
use Huawei 4G equipment, although Vodafone
last year paused deployment of Huawei kit in its
network core. BT/EE uses Huawei outside of
the core and has said it will not invite Huawei to
bid for future 5G work.
Britain has argued Huawei 5G
equipment is more technologically
advanced and cheaper than that
supplied by Ericsson and Nokia.
The UK also claims that lack of
market competition for mobile
network infrastructure makes it
unrealistic to exclude Huawei.
The fourth key supplier, ZTE, is
also Chinese.
asset and configuration management, password
management and vulnerability scanning and
benchmark testing.
“We are proud to provide mission-critical
communications infrastructure and services
to the US Navy,” said Mark McNulty, vicepresident
and general manager, US Federal
Government Markets at Motorola Solutions.
“Land mobile radio provides the reliable and
interoperable communications that are essential
to ensuring the safety of our service members at
Navy facilities around the world.”
The contract contains four options which, if
exercised, would increase the contract value to
$93.6m. The first option means work would be
completed by December 2020, although that
could continue through to June 2023 if other
options are exercised.
Adobe Stock/Oleksandr
/www.criticalcomms.com