BT boss Philip Jansen warns Boris Johnson that stripping Huawei technology from telecoms network could take years

BT chief executive Philip Jansen today warned it would take up to seven years to completely strip China’s Huawei technology from the UK telecoms network.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to make a decision this week on whether to ban Huawei due to security and privacy concerns. He is also under pressure from the US to ban the firm’s equipment from being used in the new 5G networks.

Jansen, who has previously backed Johnson’s plans to rollout ultra-fast wi-fi across Britain, said removing Huawei too quickly would lead to service failures.

“If you are to try not to have Huawei at all, ideally we would want seven years and we could probably do it in five,” Jansen told the BBC.

He added: “We need to make sure that any change of direction does not lead to more risk in the short term.”