British telecommunications holding company BT Group has delayed the removal of Huawei from the core network of EE by two years.
While it said in December 2018 that it would only take two years to remove Huawei equipment from the EE core network, BT Group now says that "100% of core mobile traffic" will be on its new Ericsson-built equipment by 2023.
The announcement coincides with the government deadline announced in January 2020.
According to BT, the government also demanded that 65% of the network's periphery should not have equipment from Huawei.
A mobile phone network's core is considered its heart or brain where voice and other data is routed across various sub-networks and computer servers to ensure it reaches its destination.
On the other hand, the network's radio access network or periphery includes equipment and infrastructure such as the base stations and antennas, which connect individual mobile devices to the core.
A BT spokesman said: "In order to hit these ambitious targets within the timescales laid down by government and to align with their focus on 5G networks, it is now our intention to prioritize migrating our 5G customers to the new Ericsson core, followed by our 4G customers."
Huawei warns UK gov't about 5G role
Huawei has asked the UK government not to disrupt the firm’s role in its 5G network after the coronavirus pandemic. According to the firm, any disruption to its involvement in the rollout of the 5G network would do UK "a disservice".
Huawei wrote in an open letter to the UK government that it is also focusing on keeping people in the country connected amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the pandemic is expected to increase pressure on the government to take a tougher stand on the firm.
In the letter, Huawei’s vice-president Victor Zhang pointed out that home data usage in the country has surged by at least 50% since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, placing “significant pressure” on telecoms systems.
Zhang claims that the company has partnered with BT, Vodafone and EE to address this increase and has also set up three new warehouses around UK to ensure the supply of spare parts.
He also explained that the pandemic highlighted how many people, particularly in rural areas, are “stuck in a digital slow lane” and that excluding the company from a role in 5G would be a mistake.
Conservative MP's backbench rebellion
Last March, several Conservative MPs launched a backbench rebellion in an attempt to pressure officials to implement an outright ban on Huawei.
There were 38 Conservatives MPs who rebelled on the issue, which was a larger number than expected.
Former International Trade and Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: "Recent events have shown how necessary it is to disentangle China from UK security infrastructure. Any delay will meet with great resistance."
Meanwhile, it was announced on Tuesday that former BT chairman Sir Michael Rake has been appointed to Huawei's UK board.
In the past months, Rake defended the Chinese tech giant, arguing that further restrictions could damage the the country's relationship with China.
