BT Excludes Huawei From Its 5G Core, Huawei’s CFO Is Arrested in Canada

Huawei just can’t get a break. BT said this week it will avoid using telecoms equipment from Chinese manufacturer Huawei in the core of its future 5G network, which will be operated by mobile subsidiary EE. And then, shockingly, Huawei’s’ chief financial officer who is also the daughter of the founder of Huawei, was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States. Following a deluge of news reports, sparked by an article in the Financial Times that said BT would strip Huawei equipment out of its 4G core network within two years, the UK-based carrier has been forced to concede that Huawei has not been included in the vendor selection for its 5G core network. In a prepared statement, a BT spokesperson said: “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. 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.”