Nokia says 5G would not be delayed by ban on Chinese suppliers

BARCELONA: Nokia does not expect the possible exclusion of Chinese companies on security grounds to delay the rollout of next-generation 5G services in European markets, CEO Rajeev Suri told Reuters.

Debate is raging in Europe over whether to heed calls from Washington to bar China’s Huawei Technologies, even as big telecoms operators warn that such a move could set back the deployment of 5G by years.

Suri, however, downplayed concerns that a reduced field of vendors could slow network upgrades. The real reasons for Europe’s growing 5G lag behind the United States are hold-ups in issuing spectrum to operators, as well as high auction costs in countries such as Italy, he said.