Three UK has warned that banning Huawei equipment could significantly delay its 5G rollout.
David Dyson, CEO of Three UK, said a ban could push back the deployment of 5G services by as much as 12 to 18 months. “We’ve already started to deploy equipment ahead of our planned 5G launch in the second half of the year,” he explained. “If we had to change vendor now, we would take a big step backwards and probably cause a delay of 12 to 18 months.”
The UK is facing pressure from the United States to exclude Chinese suppliers from its 5G networks over concerns that their equipment could be used for surveillance. Huawei has consistently denied posing a national security threat.
Dyson emphasized that Huawei had met the same security standards applied to other vendors and that Three UK chose the supplier based on those assessments. “Huawei met all of the standards that the other operators met, and we felt at the end of that process that Huawei was the right choice for our customers and for our business,” he said.
For earlier-generation networks, UK operators have been allowed to use Huawei gear under the condition that equipment is verified at the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) in Banbury before deployment. HCSEC issues annual reports on its findings; until recently, those reports concluded that identified risks were being mitigated effectively. The latest report, however, raised concerns about aspects of Huawei’s manufacturing processes.
Other UK operators have expressed similar worries about the impact of a Huawei ban. Vodafone UK’s chief technology officer, Scott Petty, warned that removing Huawei equipment could delay its 5G rollout because it would necessitate pulling hardware from the existing 4G network to replace it.
That issue of legacy dependency was underscored by Randall Stephenson, then CEO of AT&T in the United States. He noted that networks built on Huawei 4G equipment may face compatibility challenges when upgrading to 5G, effectively leaving those operators tied to the same vendor for the next-generation network. “If you have deployed Huawei as your 4G network, Huawei is not allowing interoperability to 5G — meaning if you are 4G, you are stuck with Huawei for 5G,” Stephenson said. “When the Europeans say we got a problem — that’s their problem. They really don’t have an option to go to somebody else.”
As the debate continues, UK carriers must weigh the security concerns raised by international partners against the practical implications of switching suppliers mid-rollout, including potential delays, increased costs, and technical complexity. Decisions on whether to ban specific vendors will influence not only deployment timelines but also how operators plan long-term network upgrades and interoperability strategies.