The U.K. has announced that it will spend $333 million (250 million pounds) to replace its 5G wireless equipment sources, after banning China’s Huawei Technologies Co. from supplying the next-generation technology.
According to Bloomberg, around 50 million pounds of the total will be spent next year to help build “a secure and resilient 5G network.
U.K. Telcom companies have up to 2027 to remove all Huawei 5G equipment in their networks following the country’s ban on the company’s kits. Telecom operators are banned from buying Huawei equipment from the end of this year, following concerns of national security. This leaves phone carriers reliant on a supply duopoly of Finland’s Nokia Oyj and Sweden’s Ericsson AB.
The U.K. joins six countries that have excluded the Chinese company from their 5G market, namely; the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Italy and Denmark. Germany, France and India continue to enforce partial exclusion while Spain and Portugal remain undecided.
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