EE pulls Huawei phones from UK 5G launch
Network excludes Chinese group’s handsets as Google pulls Android licence
Britain’s largest mobile phone network has pulled Huawei’s phones from its 5G launch after Google said it would comply with a US ban and stop supplying its Android operating system to the Chinese group.
EE, part of BT, unveiled its plan to launch 5G services next week with 5G phones from Samsung and OnePlus. It had planned to offer Huawei phones but decided to “pause” the launch due to the uncertainty around the use of the Android operating system in the future after Google pulled its licence over the weekend.
Marc Allera, chief executive of EE, said the company had “paused” the launch of Huawei’s 5G phones as it did not have the “surety of service” it needed to offer long term contracts. “We’ve had to hold that back,” he said.
The company will however continue to use Huawei, alongside Ericsson, for the radio equipment for its 5G network despite the political debate around the use of the Chinese company’s equipment and its supply chain issues following the move by US authorities to put it on to the “entity list”.
Mr Allera said that it has tested its 5G network using Huawei technology and has had “no indications” from the UK government to change course. He said that the supply chain restrictions were a concern but that the UK would not benefit from a lengthy delay to 5G launches while the situation is being resolved.
“There are so many scenarios and we don’t have any clarity. But we can’t stand still,” he said. “Nothing is crystal clear but we have to work within that ambiguity,” he said.
The debate around Huawei has overshadowed the launch of 5G services in the UK as networks have lobbied the government not to ban the Chinese company from 5G network builds.
EE has battled to be the first to launch 5G networks against Vodafone which goes live in July. EE will charge a premium for the faster network of around £5 and has partnered with Google and Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go which has developed a Harry Potter-themed game, for the launch.
It will initially launch 5G in six cities which will rise to 50 by next summer as it looks to upgrade 100 sites a month.
The initial version of 5G will be the equivalent of an enhanced 4G network offering speeds 10 times faster than today’s smartphones. Its full 5G network will be launched in 2022 with ultra low latency services available in 2023.
Mr Allera said that the launch of 4G paved the way for the rise of Netflix and Uber and 5G could have a wider effect. “We take it for granted now but it changed our behaviour. So what new services will rise on this new network? We don’t know, but our job is to build that network,” he said.