The British police switch-off the installed equipment of Huawei for $3 billion

In December, 2018 it became known that the communication network of Emergency Services Network (ESN) which police, fire services, ambulance and other emergency services use will cease to work on the equipment of Huawei, and instead of it will install the equipment of other producer. Project cost is estimated at 2.3 billion pounds sterling (about $3 billion).

The ESN network is built by the operator of EE who in 2016 was absorbed by telecommunication giant BT Group for 12.5 billion pounds sterling. The EE company used the equipment of Huawei in all the systems, and BT Group gradually replaced it with devices of other companies. It concerned also a communication network for emergency services.

The British police switch-off the installed equipment of Huawei for $3 billion

The BT refuses technologies of Huawei because of concerns that the Chinese company is too close to the Chinese military and the authorities. Huawei constantly rejects these suspicions, however in some countries, including in Australia and the USA, the equipment of Huawei is forbidden for sale to operators.

At this BT does not give the importance to withdrawal of the equipment of Huawei from ESN network. The company notes that Huawei remains "one of the major suppliers" to the company while the representative of Huawei noted that cooperation with BT continues 15 years and that in the company got used to use to the policy set by the British company different suppliers for different stages of works long ago.

Complete replacement of the components of ESN network constructed on products of Huawei will take up to four years. The representative of EE in a conversation of Sunday Telegraph assured that hardware upgrade will take place in network without violation of work of the service. According to the representative of the British government, the solution to bring the equipment of Huawei out of ESN network will be approved with the fact that infrastructure of the systems of the emergency reaction should not have problems with security.^[1]

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