Telecoms operators Vodafone and BT have said it will take them at least five years to remove Huawei equipment from their networks in the UK, with Vodafone estimating the cost of the work at several billion pounds.
Andrea Dona, Vodafone UK's head of networks, told a committee of British lawmakers that the operator needs to have a "reasonable timescale" of several years to implement any further restrictions on Huawei, with a transition period spanning at least five years. In turn, BT claims that it will take a minimum of five years, and ideally seven, to remove Huawei equipment from its network.
In January of this year, the UK gave Huawei a limited opportunity to participate in the construction of future 5G networks, excluding it from the number of suppliers of equipment for the network core. However, under continued pressure from the US, UK leaders have changed their rhetoric, now arguing that US sanctions could have a significant impact on Huawei's ability to supply critical network equipment components.
As a result, the UK is once again reconsidering Huawei's role in its telecoms networks. Huawei told the committee hearing that it was too early to quantify the impact of the sanctions on its operations and that no hasty decisions should be made.
Samsung Executive Vice President Woojune Kim also addressed the committee of British lawmakers. He said the company is in active commercial discussions with European operators to supply network equipment and is investing its resources in 4G, 5G and 6G rather than legacy technologies.
Asked whether Samsung could supply the UK's new 5G network, he said: "Yes, we can, absolutely."
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Source: 3dnews.ru