BRUSSELS: European telecom bosses warned on Tuesday against a proposed EU ban on network equipment from Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE, saying the move would increase their investment costs.
The European Union wants to ban suppliers under cybersecurity proposals set out in January in its Digital Networks Act. This is the latest of several measures targeting China.
The Act does not cite Chinese firms by name but once identified, telecom operators would have three years to phase them out of their networks.
“The Cybersecurity Act (CSA) risks draining the sector of the very capital needed for fibre, 5G and 6G” networks, the Connect Europe group of telecoms operators said in an open letter.
Europe still controls a critical layer of the tech stack: #Connectivity. The question is whether policy will help reinforce it, or undermine it. Top #telecom CEOs call to “correct the course” of reforms and support investment, innovation & tech leadership: https://t.co/JHZiaOUSPk
— Connect Europe (@connecteuropex) September 15, 2026
It was signed by 17 top executives, including the CEOs of France’s Orange, Germany’s Deutsche Telekom and Spain’s Telefonica.
The letter did not cite China in particular either but said that a blanket ban on certain suppliers from outside the EU would impose “up to 40 billion euros ($46 billion) in replacement costs on our sector”.
The proposal is currently being negotiated between the European Parliament and the governments of the 27 EU member states.
It emerged after the European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — urged countries in 2023 to exclude Huawei and ZTE from their mobile networks due to security risks but saw insufficient results.
The United States has long banned Huawei and sought to convince allies to follow suit, arguing that its products could be used to monitor communications.
