Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK (a) embassies and (b) residences use Huawei equipment for their (i) internal and (ii) external communications.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office provides communications to its diplomatic premises around the world through the ECHO network delivered by Vodafone. The department does not keep a register of equipment used in the ECHO network. Many official residences also make use of ECHO connectivity, or contract local communications providers. The department does not keep a central register of equipment used for non-ECHO networks. Where communications are sensitive, data is encrypted to a suitable level across the ECHO network, thereby safeguarding the information.