The difficulty lies in the fact, as noted by Reuters, that some European telecom operators have half of the equipment in 4G networks bearing the Huawei brand, and if they planned to upgrade the infrastructure without looking at US sanctions, they would simply replace some of the Huawei equipment with more modern equipment of the same brand. … If Samsung wants to offer them its own 5G base stations, then European telecom operators are starting to have concerns about compatibility with old Huawei equipment. Representatives of Samsung, by the way, consider such doubts inappropriate and unfounded, but this does not make it easier for them to negotiate in Europe.

According to Reuters, Samsung’s $ 6 billion contracts with American telecom operator Verizon in September inspired Spanish operator Telefonica and French Orange to negotiate with the South Korean manufacturer on the supply of base stations for 5G networks. Local operators fear that if the new equipment is incompatible with the existing infrastructure of the Huawei brand, they will have to modernize the 4G networks, which will cost a pretty penny. The transition to 5G itself is quite costly. Over the next five years, participants in the communication services market plan to invest about $ 1.14 trillion in the development and modernization of networks around the world, about 78% of this amount will fall on 5G networks.

The source reports that German telecom operator Deutsche Telekom is skeptical about the idea of ​​using Samsung equipment to upgrade its networks. At least right now, the Korean manufacturer has nothing to oppose its European competitors, and it will take years to build trusting relationships with telecom operators.