Huawei confident UK will make 5G decision based on the evidence

LONDON (Reuters) - China's Huawei [HWT.UL] said it was confident Britain would assess the evidence in deciding whether its equipment should be deployed in 5G networks after the United States said it would be "madness" to allow use of the technology.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier on Tuesday that Huawei's critics needed to say what alternative technology should be used instead, although he added that he would not make any decisions that risked national security or Britain's co-operation with intelligence-sharing partners.

A decision is expected this month on whether to allow Huawei to supply some "non-core" parts for the UK network.

Victor Zhang, vice president of Huawei, said the company strongly agreed with Johnson that "the British public deserve to have access to the best possible technology."

"We are confident that the UK government will make a decision based upon evidence, as opposed to unsubstantiated allegations," he said in a statement.

He added: "Two UK parliamentary committees concluded there is no technical reason to ban us from supplying 5G equipment and this week the head of MI5 said there is 'no reason to think' the UK's intelligence-sharing relationship with the U.S. would be harmed if Britain continued to use Huawei technology."

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Stephen Addison)