Huawei 5G tech shows strong presence in Europe despite EU restrictions

EU has sanctioned Huawei 5G network tech in Europe. But it seems the ban hasn’t affected the Chinese vendor much. The latest information says that the company is standing firm in the European 5G market regardless of tougher challenges.

A new report by Strand Consult reveals that despite EU restrictions on using Chinese 5G network tech, Huawei has a strong position in Europe. Its 5G and other network solutions are still used by many European companies for a stable experience.

In 2019, many customers from 27 EU and 5 non-EU countries chose Huawei network technologies over Ericsson and Nokia. It seems these European customers still rely on the Chinese 5G equipment, mainly from Huawei despite EU warnings.

Strand Consult says that one-third of 5G sites in 32 EU countries were using Chinese network equipment in Q4 2024. Even after the EU’s warning and efforts to abolish Chinese vendors from the European 5G market, Huawei remains powerful.

The report further predicts that Huawei and other Chinese vendors will have a significant share in the foreign 5G market till 2030 at least. If not much, they will hold around 29 – 32% of the market share by 2028. It added a sarcastic line:

“If the presence of Huawei in 5G is a risk, Europeans are to continue living with a daily threat.”

Huawei 5G network equipment has often been seen as a risk to the EU and US national security. Why? The foreign authorities believe that China will use these techs for spying on Europe and even snatching off crucial details of the countries.

Huawei 5G tech shows strong presence in Europe despite EU restrictions (Image Credits: Huawei)

Even though Huawei denied these allegations for years, it continued to face the challenges. Good news is that despite restrictions, many European firms are using Huawei network technologies due to its affordable rates and high-end performance.

Tests have shown that Huawei 5G network techs can easily defeat Nordic vendors in various performance aspects. This is the major reason why many European companies rely on Chinese equipment. Another cause is the unnecessary efforts in removing and replacing the already-implemented technologies.

EU on the other hand added massive penalties for those who aren’t obeying the regulations. The authorities took the move after a former EU executive instructed the companies to remove Chinese vendors from 5G networks at the earliest.

“Let me mention here that although 23 member states look at legislative action to implement the toolbox, only seven of them have actually imposed the necessary restrictions. This is not enough.” – said former EU executive Thierry Breton.

UK’s rip-and-replace program currently seems at a moderate pace. Although Germany is still facing problems in removing Huawei 5G techs from its cores. Strand Consult says that Huawei will continue to hold around 59% of Germany’s 5G network in 2028 (the same share it had in Q2 2022).

Huawei 5G tech shows strong presence in Europe despite EU restrictions (Image Credits: Huawei)

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