Vodafone to remove Huawei from core European networks

European telecom Vodafone announced they will remove Huawei-made equipment from the core parts of its wireless networks on Wednesday, February 5.

Nick Read, CEO of Vodafone, said the move was partly motivated by UK government's decision to ban equipment form the "high-risk" Chinese company being integrated into sensitive, core parts of UK's 5G buildouts. The country also put a 35 per cent cap on Huawei equipment that phone carriers can't go over, even if they only use it in cell towers and masts.

Read said the removal will take about five years to complete and will cost the telecom approximately $220 million. Adding if other European countries implement a similar cap on Huawei equipment, it would take significantly more time to roll out 5G in Europe.