Dec 5, 2018

BT blocks Huawei from parts of 5G network

BT has said it will not use Huawei's equipment within the heart of its 5G mobile network when it is rolled out in the UK. The British firm still plans to use the Chinese company's phone mast antennas and other products deemed not to be at the "Core" of the service. BT began removing Huawei equipment that it determined to be at the "Control plan" - or core - of the network. Although this has been going on for two years, it was only publicly disclosed in response to a question by the FT. "In 2016, following the acquisition of EE, we began a process to remove Huawei equipment from the core of our 3G and 4G networks, as part of network architecture principles in place since 2006," said a spokesman for BT. "We're applying these same principles to our current RFP for 5G core infrastructure." "As a result, Huawei has not been included in vendor selection for our 5G core. Huawei remains an important equipment provider outside the core network, and a valued innovation partner." Huawei has previously promoted its partnership with BT, and as recently as February issued a press release that said the two were working together on the "Development and live trials" of 5G core network technologies.

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