UK to reduce reliance on China’s Huawei

Bloomberg

Britain’s dominant phone company is looking for a new broadband equipment supplier to reduce its reliance on China’s Huawei Technologies Co as it prepares to connect millions of homes to optic fibre.
BT Group Plc’s infrastructure division Openreach has started an evaluation process to seek a third strategic vendor alongside Huawei and Finland’s Nokia Oyj for the full-fibre roll-out, a spokesman said in response to questions from Bloomberg News.
US-based vendors are likely to be among the bidders, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
“We already manage a large and diverse supply chain across our full-fiber build, and we’re constantly reviewing our options to make sure we can carry on building a high-quality network that offers great value for money,” the spokesman for BT’s Openreach said by email. He declined to say which companies may be considered. Cisco Systems Inc, based in San Jose, and Adtran Inc, based in Huntsville, Alabama, are among the companies interested in the work, according to people familiar with the matter. Britain’s National Infrastructure Commission had said it would cost $43 billion to build and maintain a full fiber network.