BT CEO says restricting Huawei will cost the company £500 million

The British government recently approved operators to use Huawei equipment in 5G networks,  British Telecom (BT) chief executive Philip Jansen warned that the decision to restrict Huawei would cost the operator about 500 million pounds over the next five years.

He said during a conference call with BT’s third-quarter earnings report (covering three months to the end of December 2019) that most of the costs will be “pre-burdened” and may be spread over the next three years. He also added that clarifying Huawei’s role was “very helpful” and that despite some outstanding issues in the government’s decision, the decision allowed BT to expand EE’s 5G network as soon as possible.

The company is still assessing the full impact of the government’s decision, but the executive noted that BT’s immediate action would be “to expedite some (network) rebalancing we are already undertaking”.

BT’s revenue for the quarter was 5.8 billion pounds, which fell 3% year-on-year after adjusting for accounting standards.

Also today, the European Union also issued recommendations on 5G today. Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton said the EU would establish a secure 5G network and agreed to strengthen Security requirements, but no manufacturers will be explicitly banned. In other words, Huawei can also participate in EU 5G construction.

Thierry Breton ( Thierry Breton ) said in a report, “Europe has all the necessary technology leadership contest, either development or deployment of 5G technology, our industry has been in its infancy. Today, as EU member states, Telecom operators and users provide the tools to build and protect European infrastructure with the highest security standards, so all of us will fully benefit from the potential provided by 5G.

Related:

• Huawei holds 37% of the global 5G smartphone market, Ranked 1st
• After UK now EU issues 5G decision on Huawei
• UK decides to allow Huawei in 5G network construction