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Reuters

Vodafone will remove Huawei technology from the core of its European networks following Britain’s decision to restrict the Chinese company’s role in 5G and new EU guidelines on the firm’s equipment, Chief Executive Nick Read said.
Britain last month allowed Huawei a limited role in new mobile networks – defying US pressure for an outright ban on security grounds – but excluded it from the core and imposed a 35 per cent cap in the less-sensitive radio network.
Huawei has repeatedly denied US allegations that its equipment could potentially be used by Beijing for spying.
“We have now decided, as a result of the EU toolbox and the UK government’s decision, to take out Huawei from the core,” Read told reporters on Wednesday.
“This will take around five years to implement at a cost of approximately 200 million euros (US$220.4 million).”
Huawei promises ‘made in Europe’ 5G, as it announces new manufacturing plans
Read said Vodafone would only have to make minor adjustments to comply with the rules in Britain, where it has not deployed Huawei in its core.
Vodafone does use Huawei in its core in Spain and in some smaller European markets.
Read welcomed the British approach, which he said was evidence based and differentiated between different parts of the network, but he opposed caps on the use of particular vendors by operators.
“It hugely impacts customers and the quality of networks if we are forced to do an accelerated swap,” he said. “Although this isn’t an issue in the UK I wouldn’t want this for Europe.”
He said it could lead to delays of anything between two and five years depending on which countries decided to impose a cap.
“The US is racing ahead, China is racing ahead,” he said. “We can’t hold back our 5G deployment and therefore I think caps would be restrictive on that basis.”
Read did not specify which of Vodafone’s big continental markets – Germany, Italy and Spain – could be affected.
“I’m not hearing European markets saying they want caps, I’m saying were we to go that route, it has consequences,” he said.
BT, Vodafone’s rival in its home market which is already stripping out Huawei from its core, will have to spend 500 million pounds (US$650.8 million) to comply with the UK cap. The cost is to remove radio equipment from some locations and switch contracts to rivals like Ericsson and Nokia.
In Germany, Vodafone’s largest European market, lawmakers are still arguing over Huawei.
Read said Vodafone was working to increase the number of vendors, centred on its OpenRAN initiative, which aims to standardise the design of software and hardware.
Earlier on Wednesday, Vodafone reported third-quarter organic service revenue growth of 0.8 per cent, an uptick from the second, helped by continued recovery in South Africa.
Europe, however, remained a slog for the world’s second biggest mobile operator, with revenue down 1.4 per cent year-on-year, the same rate seen in the previous quarter.
“We expect a further gradual improvement in service revenue growth in Q4, led by Europe,” Read said.
Read is focusing Vodafone’s operations on Europe and sub-Sahara Africa, and last month the company agreed to sell its 55 per cent stake in Vodafone Egypt for US$2.4 billion to Saudi Telecom Company.
The group also wants to generate more value from its network infrastructure.
It has appointed senior managers for its European tower company, Read said, and was preparing for a potential public listing in early 2021, most likely in London or Frankfurt.

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Vodafone to remove Huawei from core of its European network after UK decision to restrict Chinese company’s role in 5G

A Vodafone employee holds a 5G smartphone. The company was the first German telecommunications company to launch a commercial 5G network. Photo: Federico Gambarini/dpa

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Both Britain and the European Union have introduced policies that allow the partial participation of Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecoms equipment supplier, in 5G mobile network roll-outs. Photo: EPA-EFE

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, meets with Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street in London, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020. Pompeo is in London on the cusp of Britain's departure from the European Union for talks focused on a post-Brexit free trade deal and the U.K.'s decision to allow the Chinese tech company Huawei to play a role in the country's high-speed wireless network. (Tolga Akmen/Pool Photo via AP)

Mobile network phone masts are visible in front of St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020. The Chinese tech firm Huawei has been designated a "high-risk vendor" but will be given the opportunity to build non-core elements of Britain's 5G network, the government has announced. The company will be banned from the "core", of the 5G network, and from operating at sensitive sites such as nuclear and military facilities, and its share of the market will be capped at 35%. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

No Huawei ‘smoking gun’ in Europe, French cybersecurity chief says

The European Union, as well as Britain, this week unveiled their recommendations for regulating telecommunications gear for 5G mobile networks, enabling Huawei Technologies to take part in those infrastructure roll-outs under limited conditions. Photo: Reuters

(200131) -- BEIJING, Jan. 31, 2020 (Xinhua) -- A woman listens to a debate at Huawei Cyber Security Transparency Center in Brussels, Belgium, on Jan. 30, 2020. Huawei held the debate on 5G cyber security toolbox on Thursday, following the issuance of the EU 5G "toolbox". The European Commission on Wednesday issued the non-binding guidelines -- agreed by 28 member states -- known as a "toolbox" for 5G security, where the EU sets out detailed mitigation plans for each of the identified risks and recommends a set of key strategic and technical measures. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

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The move will take around five years to implement at a cost of approximately US$220.4 million, according to CEO Nick Read



Vodafone will remove Huawei from the core of its European networks following Britain’s decision to restrict the Chinese company’s role in 5G
