"We are looking into the relationship that has developed between Huawei and BT and the implications for the UK."

He added: "We wanted to look at the historical background to that contract, to what extent there were security concerns at the time, whether and to what extent the British government were involved in these decisions, and whether there have been any causes for concern that have arisen since Huawei became involved in our telecoms infrastructure."

According to Rifkind, there are allegations circling that claim Huawei has links to the People's Liberation Army in China, and that any Chinese company is ultimately subject to the Chinese government.

If the parliamentary committee issued a report that established similar conclusions to those released in America this week, it could be a very embarrassing situation for David Cameron who has always aimed to develop a strong trade and political relationship with China.

A spokesman for BT told Computerworld UK that it recognises that the increased globalisation of the telecoms industry means that there is a diverse range of cyber threats to consider when building and securing networks.