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Huizhao Huang

Removing equipment made by Huawei Technologies and other Chinese vendors from the European Union’s telecoms networks would cost operators €30 billion to €40 billion (US$34 billion to US$46 billion), roughly three times the European Commission’s estimate, according to an industry report released on Wednesday.
The estimate comes as Brussels moves to require operators to strip out equipment from suppliers deemed high-risk, chiefly Huawei and ZTE, within three years of a revised EU Cybersecurity Act – which is going through legislative reviews – taking effect.
Commissioned by seven European operator groups, including Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Orange, the report was produced by GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of industry body GSMA.
If implemented, the removal mandate “would represent one of the most significant structural interventions in the European telecoms sector in decades”, the report said.
Of the €30 billion to €40 billion estimate, mobile networks accounted for €16 billion to €22 billion, largely reflecting the cost of replacing base stations and other network hardware. Transport networks, which carry traffic between sites, accounted for €9 billion to €12 billion, while fixed broadband equipment, including fibre access gear, added another €5 billion.
Brussels’ impact assessment put the cost to mobile operators at €3.4 billion to €4.3 billion a year over a three-year transition period, or roughly €10 billion to €13 billion in total.
Much of the discrepancy comes down to scope. The commission assessed only mobile networks, while the GSMA study also included fixed and transport infrastructure, drawing on internal data from operators representing nearly half of the EU’s mobile connections.


The report argued the harm would go beyond cost. Excluding Chinese vendors would reduce competition “without any pro-competitive elements”, it said, leaving only one or two major suppliers in some parts of the supply chain.
It said reduced competition would increase equipment prices by an estimated 24 per cent for mobile networks, 19 per cent for fixed broadband equipment and 10 per cent for transport networks, adding about €8.5 billion to planned investment between 2027 and 2030, and around €24 billion in total by 2035.
If all displaced sales went to the largest remaining supplier, mobile equipment prices could rise by as much as 43 per cent, the report said.
According to GSMA Intelligence, Huawei accounts for about a quarter of the EU’s mobile network equipment market, rising to roughly one-third when combined with ZTE. In fixed networks, Chinese vendors’ combined share approaches 40 per cent, the highest across the three networks assessed.
Removing them would leave Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia as the dominant suppliers. Ericsson’s share of the mobile market would climb to nearly 60 per cent, with the two Nordic firms together controlling about 96 per cent, while Nokia’s share of the fixed broadband market would rise from 30 per cent to nearly 50 per cent.
Higher costs would lead operators to scale back or delay network upgrades, the report said, further widening Europe’s €205 billion digital infrastructure investment gap.
The GSMA report was based on internal cost data from European telecoms operators. A May report by the China Chamber of Commerce to the EU and KPMG estimated the broader economic impact of the proposed rules at €367.8 billion over five years, including €57.4 billion for the telecoms sector.


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GSMA Intelligence says move will cost up to US$46 billion, roughly three times more than European Commission has suggested


GSMA Intelligence says move will cost up to US$46 billion, roughly three times more than European Commission has suggested.


EU push to remove Huawei, other Chinese telecoms gear could cost US$46 billion: report

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}GSMA Intelligence says move will cost up to US$46 billion, roughly three times more than European Commission has suggested

GSMA Intelligence says move will cost up to US$46 billion, roughly three times more than European Commission has suggested