Spanish telecom giant Telefonica has extended its contract with Huawei till 2030. The development comes amidst its decision to phase out Huawei 5G gear in Spain and Germany.
The telco has renewed its partnership with Huawei for a 5G core network for residential users for the next five years. The news comes from El País, which states that the decision regarding the contract extension was signed in December 2024 under the previous chairman, José María Álvarez-Pallete.
But it should be noted that the cooperation is limited to residential users’ 5G networks. It doesn’t cover services for enterprises and public administrations. Such types of gears are handled by the Finnish firm Nokia.
It’s said that affordability and terms were some of the driving factors for Telefonica to award the contract to Huawei.
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The EU and Western countries have consistently phased out and are planning to shun Huawei from their 5G networks. In 2020, the European Commission pressured member nations to ditch Huawei and other high-risk vendors, citing national security concerns.
Likewise, US President Trump also signed an executive order in May 2019 allowing the government to bar US companies from doing any business with Huawei.
The UK, Denmark, Latvia, and other nations have completely banned cooperation with Huawei for their telecommunications. Spain, though, remains operational with the Chinese vendor.