The British government is looking again at how it safeguards its telecommunications networks from feared security risks posed by Chinese giant Huawei.
Britain, the US and Australia have all raised concerns that Huawei's alleged ties to the Chinese state could see telecoms equipment supplied by the company used for spying and cyber-attacks.
Parliament's intelligence and security committee warned last month that the British government must take more action against risks posed by a decade-old deal between Huawei and BT, the company which manages much of Britain's networks.
Huawei agreed in 2010 to invest in a Cyber Security Evaluation Centre, known as the Cell, to test updates to hardware and software for vulnerabilities before they are deployed.
But the committee expressed concern that this Cell was funded by Huawei and staffed by company employees.
The government has now agreed to the committee's request to review the effectiveness of the Cell as a matter of urgency.
Huawei denies it has any direct links to the Chinese state, but the US Congress last year called for its exclusion from US government contracts, while Australia has barred it from involvement in the country's new broadband network.
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