17 European telecom CEOs warn Huawei ban could cost €40B

Seventeen chief executives from Europe's largest telecommunications companies have issued an open letter demanding a "course correction" from EU policymakers, warning that proposed rules to ban Chinese network equipment makers from the bloc's infrastructure could cost the industry up to €40 billion in replacement costs.euronews+1

The letter, organized by the Connect Europe lobby group and signed by the CEOs of Orange ↗ 0.05% (France), Deutsche Telekom (Germany), and Telefónica Telefonica, S.A. (Spain), among others, targets cybersecurity provisions within the EU's Digital Networks Act, which was proposed in January 2026. The executives argue the legislation "risks draining the sector of the very capital needed for fibre, 5G and 6G" network investment.thepeninsulaqatar+1

What the EU Is Proposing

Under the Digital Networks Act, the European Union would ban suppliers classified as "high risk" on cybersecurity grounds. While the Act avoids naming Chinese companies directly, Huawei and ZTE are widely understood to be the primary targets. Once a supplier is designated high-risk, telecom operators would have three years to phase out its equipment.thepeninsulaqatar+3

The proposal follows a 2023 European Commission recommendation urging member states to exclude Huawei and ZTE from mobile networks — a push that yielded uneven results, with only about 10 EU countries acting on the guidance. The United States has long banned Huawei and pressed allies to follow suit.euronews+1

Industry Demands Go Beyond Huawei

The open letter goes further than the Huawei question alone. According to Heise, the executives are also demanding relaxed merger rules, arguing that Europe's fragmented telecom market leaves operators unable to compete at scale. The CEOs said the Digital Networks Act "fails to address Europe's need to materially improve investment and innovation conditions for connectivity," and objected to what they called a "top-down approach" to mandating the switch-off of legacy copper networks.lightreading+1

Connect Europe has been pushing for looser competition rules around telecom consolidation for months, contending that current merger guidelines prevent operators from achieving the scale needed to match rivals in the United States and Asia.connecteurope+1

A Familiar Tension

The pushback underscores a persistent tension at the heart of European policy: balancing national security concerns against the economic constraints of an industry that remains heavily dependent on Chinese-made equipment. Progress among EU member states has been uneven — Sweden and the United Kingdom moved early to ban Huawei gear, while Germany agreed to a phased removal from 5G core networks by the end of 2026, with broader components to follow by 2029.euronews

The proposal is now being negotiated between the European Parliament and the governments of the EU's 27 member states.thepeninsulaqatar