European telecommunications company Vodafone has decided to ban the use of Huawei technology on the core parts of its mobile networks in Europe. The cut of the Chinese giant's services on its platform would cost Vodafone a total of 200 million euros in the next five years.
Vodafone has about 111 million customers in Europe alone and based its decision to eradicate Huawei from the government's move to limit the use of Huawei equipment in the development of 5g networks in the region.
According to Vodafone's chief executive officer Nick Read, the company has generated a replacement program that would have a limited financial impact on the company's UK operations. He claimed that Vodafone had already been mostly compliant with new government measures.
Read, however, warned that European nations may also be forced to comply with the 35 percent cap on Huawei equipment in non-core parts of telecommunications companies. These non-core parts include the masts and towers that could delay the development of 5g technology in Europe. The delay was set to be by two to five years.
Some European regions have already banned the use of Huawei equipment on its 5g networks especially sectors that involve data processing. It was also specifically prohibited for telecommunications companies to use such equipment when they are used in nuclear sites and military bases.
Read also announced that the company would divert the money allotted for the development of a 5g network to compensate for the eradication of the use of Huawei equipment. He also claimed that Vodafone would prioritize the replacement of equipment even if it would incur a delay in the 5g rollout.
The culture secretary Nicky Morgan said that Britain may engage in joint projects with its allies to introduce possible equipment providers for telecommunications companies operating in Europe. Morgan also added that the region is very determined to be more resilient when it comes to 5g development.
According to Yahoo! Finance, the European Commission's "toolbox" of guidelines on security measures of the development of 5g technology does not directly target or recommend the ban of Huawei equipment.
However, it was explained that such a mandate did impose a limited role for suppliers that have been deemed as high-risk companies by the government on its critical core parts of the network. The mandate also recommended that the 'high-risk' vendors would make up about 35 percent of the network only. The said threshold was the basis of Vodafone's decision.
