Brits could face higher mobile phone bills after the Government confirmed it would ban Chinese firm Huawei from parts of the network.
It means high-speed 5G will be delayed for up to three years and cost up to £2billion more than expected.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told MPs: “This will have real consequences for the connections on which all our constituents rely.”
It raises the prospect of British telecoms firms passing their costs on to customers for their phone and internet bills instead.
The decision – after pressure from both US President Donald Trump and backbench Tory MPs – marks a major government U-turn.
But it is expected to worsen already tense diplomatic relations with the Chinese after Beijing warned the UK would face “consequences” if it pressed ahead with excluding Huawei.
Under the proposals, voted on by MPs this autumn, telecoms firms will be banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment from the end of this year.
Boris Johnson still faces a revolt from backbenchers as Huawei hardware is in place until 2027. Iain Duncan Smith said: “Let’s bring it forward to five [years].”
US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien, who is in Europe, said the move “reflects a growing international consensus that Huawei and other untrusted vendors pose a threat to national security, as they remain beholden to the Chinese Communist Party”.
Huawei’s Ed Brewster said: “This is about US trade policy and not security.”
