Vodafone says UK’s desire to lead in 5G will suffer a blow if Huawei gear is ripped out
- The British mobile network operator’s warning comes as London looks to phase Huawei equipment out of the country’s telecoms infrastructure
- Britain designated Huawei a ‘high-risk vendor’ in January, capping its 5G network roll-out involvement at 35 per cent
“The UK’s leadership in 5G will be lost if mobile operators are forced to spend time and money replacing existing equipment”, Scott Petty, Vodafone UK’s chief technology officer, told Reuters in an emailed statement.
The British government should make efforts to expand 5G coverage and invest in the next stage of this technology instead of stripping out the equipment of the Chinese telecoms equipment maker, Petty said.
“We are not tied to one supplier, but it is important to understand the extent of what is at stake here,” he said, adding Vodafone is working with Swedish telecoms gear maker Ericsson and testing equipment from new suppliers.
The numbers that show it’s hard for the UK to ditch Huawei
Vodafone’s warning was reported earlier by the Financial Times newspaper.
Britain designated Huawei a “high-risk vendor” in January, capping its 5G network roll-out involvement at 35 per cent and excluding it from the data-heavy core of the infrastructure.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has come under renewed pressure from Washington and lawmakers in his own party, who said Huawei’s equipment could be used by Beijing for spying. Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations.
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UK allows Huawei to help build its 5G network despite US warnings of national security threat
London is looking at the possibility of phasing Huawei out of its mobile infrastructure completely by 2023, officials have said.
Ties between Britain and China have grown tense recently over Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and the situation in Hong Kong, where Chinese authorities have decided to impose a new security law.
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