The looming financial impact of the UK government’s ban on the use of Huawei equipment in 5G networks was laid bare as the Chinese company revealed shrinking revenue and profit at its British unit.
UK telecoms companies were told last summer that they would be banned from buying the Chinese company’s 5G equipment from January 2021 and would have to remove any equipment they had already installed by 2027.
That gave companies including Vodafone and BT the opportunity to stockpile replacement equipment last year. They have also begun preparing for a post-Huawei market from 2021 by signing supply contracts with Ericsson, Nokia or smaller players, which are looking to fill the gap left by the world’s largest telecoms equipment company.