The UK government’s deadline for telecom operators to remove Huawei equipment from their core networks has passed, and BT has reportedly not fully completed the work.
In November 2022 the government served formal legal notices on several operators, including BT, instructing them to eliminate Huawei-supplied kit from critical parts of their networks on national security grounds. The original compliance date of 28 January 2023 was later extended to 31 December 2023 after operators said they needed more time to safely transition services.
BT has said that the vast majority of its core traffic now runs on non-Huawei equipment, while acknowledging a small portion of voice and data services remain dependent on Huawei kit. A BT Group spokesperson commented: “All 4G and 5G data sessions and voice calls are now delivered by non-Huawei core equipment – meaning that over 99 percent of all core traffic is now being served by non-Huawei kit.”
The government’s enforcement powers include fines of up to 10 percent of an operator’s annual turnover for breaches. For ongoing violations, penalties can be significant on a per-day basis, with statutory maximums intended to ensure compliance. Industry observers note that regulators tend to consider the intent and effort made by operators when deciding whether to levy fines, and there is an expectation that firms demonstrating clear, active remediation plans may receive some flexibility.
BT has not formally announced a request for an extension. However, sources familiar with the sector say regulators are likely to balance strict enforcement with practical recognition of the operational and technical challenges involved in replacing critical network elements without disrupting customer services.
The case highlights the broader complexity of removing high-dependency equipment from national telecom infrastructure: operators must manage phased migration, compatibility testing, traffic rerouting, and service continuity while meeting legally mandated timelines. Such work can be resource-intensive and time-consuming, particularly when networks carry large volumes of mobile and fixed voice and data traffic.
As the industry watches how the regulator treats near-compliance and partial shortfalls, the decision will set a precedent for how stringently similar national security-driven network changes are enforced in the future. For operators, the priority remains to complete safe migrations to approved suppliers while keeping customer disruption to a minimum.
(Photo by Metin Ozer on Unsplash)
See also: Connected Nations: UK full-fibre broadband reaches 17M homes
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