Britain imposes a cap on the role of “high-risk vendors” in its communications network

Britain had recently imposed a cap of 35 percent on the role of “high-risk vendors” in building its next-gen communications network. The government had announced this due to its security concerns. Chinese giant Huawei is anticipated to be affected the most.

Meanwhile, competitors such as Nokia and Ericssonare set to benefit due to the tougher UK and EU rules. The EU had urged its member states to avoid dependency on “high risk” suppliers. Fulfilling the increased demand left by Huawei is going to be difficult. Huawei enables super-fast data transfers used in many factories by providing the most advanced 5G. Also, the cost of 5G may increase and the rollout of it might also slow down, given the restrictions on Huawei.

Recently, one of Europe’s largest mobile operators, Orange France,had landed contracts with Nokia and Ericsson to deploy 5G networks across the country. But Orange had already used Huawei in markets such as Spain, Belgium, Poland and Romania, which again increases the competition for Nokia and Ericsson. Huawei had also won a contract to provide 5G for Telefonica, in Germany.

The way in which these new regulations are implemented in practice will determine who benefits in the longer term.