Vodafone is temporarily halting purchases of some components made by Huawei due to international security concerns about the Chinese supplier, the Wall Street Journal reports. The operator said it will not buy Huawei gear for use in the core of new 5G networks in Europe, due to uncertainty about whether some governments in the region may restrict Huawei sales out of national-security concerns.
Vodafone said the suspension of Huawei purchases would only affect its European networks. Vodafone hasn’t ruled out Huawei for its other big markets, said CEO Nick Read. Governments there haven’t raised the same worries about Huawei gear.
The equipment affected is limited to components of the core network, the report said, and won't affect other parts of the new networks, such as cellular antennas.
A Huawei spokesman said core equipment represents a small proportion of its communications infrastructure business and that it would continue to work with Vodafone. "We are grateful to Vodafone for its support of Huawei, and we will endeavor to live up to the trust placed in us," a spokesman told the paper.
