British mobile carriers warn removing Huawei will cause 'blackouts' and cost billions - CNBC

British mobile network operators have warned that removing Huawei equipment from their networks could lead to severe disruption for customers, with Vodafone going as far as to say it would cost the firm billions of pounds.

Andrea Dona, Vodafone's head of networks in the U.K., said  Wednesday that the carrier would have to spend "single-figure billions" if it was forced to swap Huawei telecoms kit out for another vendor's.

The government is reportedly preparing plans to strip Huawei gear from Britain's 5G mobile networks entirely, contrary to an initial decision in January to give the firm a restricted role.

telecom providers are required to reduce the share of Huawei kit in non-core parts of their infrastructure to 35% by 2023. BT's network currently consist of two-thirds Huawei and one-third Nokia, while Vodafone's contains one-third Huawei and two-thirds Ericsson.

on Huawei, aimed at cutting off the Chinese firm from key chip supplies.

has been upping the pressure on the British government to change its decision to allow Huawei a role in its 5G rollout.

Huawei has denied such claims, frequently stating it is independent from the Chinese government.