The Korean electronics giant Samsung seems to be planning to jump into the gap in the market opened by the measures taken against Huawei. Getting the costs right appears to be a major challenge.
Company executives have told Reuters that Samsung has been talking to Telefonica in Spain and Orange in France. Samsung has already made a deal with US telecoms provider Verizon.
Compatibility
It appears to be difficult for Samsung to make an attractive proposal, as companies fear that Samsung’s equipment is not compatible with Huawei’s existing 4G equipment. As a result, telecoms providers would have to replace large parts of their network, which could cost hundreds of millions of euros.
However, according to a Samsung spokesperson, this is a misconception. He says the Samsung equipment does work with existing equipment but gives no further details. The spokesman did not tell which European markets the company hopes to enter, but he does say that Samsung hopes to duplicate inroads it had made in America and Asia.
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Espionage
It is becoming increasingly difficult for Huawei to sell its 5G equipment. The US accuses the company of giving the Chinese government access to its network equipment for espionage. No evidence of this has yet been presented, but more and more European countries are also considering a ban on Huawei’s equipment.
Many companies are therefore looking to parties such as Nokia and Ericsson for the construction of their new 5G infrastructure. However, this equipment is in often less advanced and more expensive than Huawei equipment.