Security fears have been raised by an offer from a Chinese company to build a £50m mobile phone network on the London underground for the Olympics.
The security services have faced continual cyber attacks from state-sponsored hackers in China seeking to steal military and technological secrets.
Fears have also been raised that the Chinese are trying to infiltrate power, banking and telecoms networks with “Trojan” computer bugs that would allow them to shut down infrastructure in the event of hostilities.
However, the Chinese firm Huawei, which is one of the world’s largest telecom equipment firms, is set to offer £50m to London Underground as a gift from one Olympic host nation to another.
Huawei was founded by Ren Zhengfei, a former military technologist for the People’s Liberation Army in China.
The Joint Intelligence Committee has previously warned ministers about China’s ability to “remotely disrupt or even disable” British Telecom’s network after it signed a multi-million pound contract with the company six years ago.
The latest deal would see Huawei supply mobile transmitters which would be fitted along the ceilings of tunnels so that commuters could make and receive calls for the first time while travelling underground. The company is seeking a final agreement with Thales, the engineering contractors, and with Transport for London (TfL) but a deal could be signed by April and the equipment installed by the following March when all but essential engineering work will be suspended before the Olympics.
Mobile operators including Vodafone and O2 will pay for the installation work for the equipment.
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