Huawei so entrenched in UK telecom infra it can’t be removed within decade, says BT boss

London: The head of British telecommunications giant BT said Monday that it would be “impossible” to remove controversial Chinese giant Huawei’s equipment from Britain’s infrastructure in under 10 years.

BT chief executive Philip Jansen, speaking to the BBC, also warned that Britain could suffer “outages” and potential security risks if the sector was forced to stop dealing with the Chinese firm.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will reportedly decide this week whether to phase out the Chinese technology giant’s equipment from the UK’s 5G network because of persistent spying concerns.

The BBC on Monday reported that the government could stop installing Huawei equipment after 2021, and could possibly try to remove all of the company’s 5G kit by 2025.