AT&T CEO Says China’s Huawei Hinders Carriers From Shifting Suppliers for 5G

AT&T CEO Says China’s Huawei Hinders Carriers From Shifting Suppliers for 5G
An AT&T logo is seen at an AT&T building in New York City on Oct. 23, 2016. Stephanie Keith/Reuters
Reuters
Updated:

WASHINGTON—AT&T Inc Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said on March 20 that China’s Huawei Technologies is making it very difficult for European carriers to drop the company from its supply chain for next-generation 5G wireless service.

“If you have deployed Huawei as your 4G network, Huawei is not allowing interoperability to 5G—meaning if you are 4G, you are stuck with Huawei for 5G,” said Stephenson at a speech in Washington. “When the Europeans say we got a problem—that’s their problem. They really don’t have an option to go to somebody else.”