European Telecom CEOs Oppose EU Plan to Force Out Huawei, ZTE

CEOs of Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and 14 other operators signed an open letter against the EU plan to force removal of 'high-risk' vendors Huawei and ZTE. They estimate equipment replacement at €40 billion and warn of service disruptions for subscribers.

• Letter signed by 17 European telecom operator CEOs
• Replacing Huawei and ZTE gear could cost up to €40 billion
• EU gives operators three years to remove equipment under Digital Networks Act
• Sweden banned Huawei and ZTE; Germany removing them from 5G core by end-2026