Telefonica Extended Huawei 5G Deal in Spain

Telefonica reportedly renewed a core network contract with Huawei in late 2024 to supply equipment used for the consumer segment in Spain until 2030. The news comes less than a month after the operator’s COO Emilio Gayo stated it was reducing use of the vendor’s equipment in Spain and Germany in line with regulatory requirements.

Spanish newspaper El País cited the news comes from highly reliable industry sources, noting the deal was signed when the operator was under its previous CEO, Jose Maria Alvarez Pallete. In its response to the newspaper, Huawei Spain emphasized its contracts in the country are confidential, but noted elements such as the 5G core in the user plane were not subject to regulatory restrictions.

Telefonica signed an enterprise-focused core deal with Nokia two months after the deal was apparently signed with Huawei relating to its consumer business. Although there is no blanket ban on Huawei in Spain, the European Commission has pushed for restrictions on the use of equipment from what it deems higher-risk vendors in member states, and last month reportedly warned the country’s authorities about a contract it gave the vendor.