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Government officials have formally recommended granting Huawei a limited role within Britain's future 5G infrastructure, according to Reuters news agency.
The recommendation appears to reassert a decision reportedly made by Theresa May last year, but comes despite repeated pressures from the US to completely prohibit the use of any telecommunications equipment produced by the Chinese company in the UK.
Citing two people with knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported that the recommendation was made at a meeting of officials from senior government departments and security agencies on Wednesday.
The ultimate decision on the matter will be made at a meeting of the National Security Council next week, according to Reuters' sources.
A spokesperson for Downing Street stated: "The work on the issue of high risk vendors in the 5G network remains ongoing and when it is completed it will be announced to parliament."
Controversy has stalked the decision since Theresa May was first reported to have given the green-light for Huawei to provide "non-core" infrastructure last year. The same decision has
A leak regarding her decision led to the sacking of then defence secretary Gavin Williamson, who denied being the source of the information.
Mrs May's resignation as prime minister and the general election added months of delay to the government making an official decision.
During this time the US has repeatedly stressed it would reassess its intelligence sharing relationship with the UK if Huawei was given any role at all in Britain's infrastructure.
Sir Andrew Parker, the head of MI5 which is responsible for Britain's counter-espionage work, said he had "no reason to think" that the UK would lose out on intelligence relationships as a result of the decision.
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