Ready to replace Huawei in UK at scale and speed: Nokia

After the British government banned Chinese telecom giant Huawei from its 5G network, Finnish telecom maker Nokia said it was "ready to replace all of the Huawei equipment in the UK's networks at scale and speed."

Huawei said the decision to ban the company was "disappointing" and "politicised".

The company's spokesman added that the ban was "bad news for anyone in the UK with a mobile phone."

"This ban is about trade policy and not security," it added. The Huawei spokesman said the UK ban threatens to "move Britain into a digital slow lane."

Meanwhile, Finnish telecom maker Nokia said: "We have the capacity and expertise to replace all of the Huawei equipment in the UK's networks at scale and speed, and are ready to step up to support the implementation of the UK government decision with minimal impact on the people using our customers’ networks."

Nokia is one of the prime competitors of Huawei in the 5G infrastructure development.

The British government banned the purchasing of 5G equipment from China's Huawei from December 31.