Four major Japanese and British mobile carriers said Wednesday they will delay releasing new 5G handsets made by Huawei amid a US-led crackdown on the Chinese tech firm over security concerns.
Telecoms giant EE, owned by BT, was due to bring Huawei’s first 5G phone, the Huawei Mate 20X, to Britain, but the Chinese giant’s involvement in the country’s telecoms has become politically controversial.
EE chief executive Marc Allera said that the company had “paused” the launch of Huawei’s 5G phones “until we get the information and confidence and the long-term security that our customers… are going to be supported”.
The group also said it would phase out the use of Huawei equipment in its network infrastructure.
Vodafone soon followed suit, announcing it was suspending pre-orders of Huawei 5G handsets.
“We are pausing pre-orders for the Huawei Mate 20X in the UK. This is a temporary measure while uncertainty exists regarding new Huawei 5G devices,” said a spokesperson.
KDDI and SoftBank Corp, Japan’s number two and number three carriers respectively, said the decision was taken to give them time to assess the impact of a US ban on American companies selling technology to Huawei.
The country’s biggest carrier, NTT Docomo, also announced it was suspending pre-orders for a new Huawei handset, but stopped short of halting the release itself.