VOD.L - Vodafone Group Plc
| Previous close | 129.48 |
| Open | 129.74 |
| Bid | 129.36 x 0 |
| Ask | 129.38 x 0 |
| Day's range | 129.01 - 130.16 |
| 52-week range | 0.99 - 1,602.00 |
| Volume | 12,009,424 |
| Avg. volume | 83,880,160 |
| Market cap | 34.705B |
| Beta (5Y monthly) | 0.74 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | N/A |
| EPS (TTM) | -28.20 |
| Earnings date | 12 May 2020 |
| Forward dividend & yield | 0.08 (6.32%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 11 Jun 2020 |
| 1y target est | 2.01 |
- Fool.co.uk
Vodafone’s share price is down 12% in 2020. Here’s my view on the stock now
Vodafone shares have underperformed in recent years. Here, Edward Sheldon looks at whether they're now a bargain, or a trap. The post Vodafone’s share price is down 12% in 2020. Here’s my view on the stock now appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Fool.co.uk
Is the Vodafone share price really a bargain buy?
The Vodafone share price has fallen by 15% year-to-date. Does this recent fall in value make it a bargain buy or a value trap?The post Is the Vodafone share price really a bargain buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Reuters
First Dutch 5G auction begins with 900 million euro floor
The first Dutch government auction of bandwidth for 5G networks began on Monday with a 900 million euro ($1 billion) floor and network owners KPN, Vodafone and T-Mobile participating. The Dutch government is selling bandwidth in the 700, 1400 and 2100Mhz airwave ranges. The Dutch roll-out of 5G has lagged behind other European countries, though Vodafone said in April it had begun offering 5G services over its existing 4G network.
- Fool.co.uk
Stock market crash bargains: I’d buy these cheap FTSE 100 dividend shares today
The worst of the stock market crash may be over, but Roland Head thinks that income investors can still pick up some high-yield bargains.The post Stock market crash bargains: I'd buy these cheap FTSE 100 dividend shares today appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Fool.co.uk
Forget Bitcoin and the Cash ISA! I’d buy cheap FTSE 100 shares now to get rich and retire early
Investing in cheap FTSE 100 shares after the stock market crash is a better way of building your retirement wealth than Bitcoin or the Cash ISA.The post Forget Bitcoin and the Cash ISA! I'd buy cheap FTSE 100 shares now to get rich and retire early appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Bloomberg
Virus Is Hastening Mobile-Banking Pioneer’s Race to Replace Cash
(Bloomberg) -- Africa’s burgeoning mobile-banking industry has gained fresh momentum with governments boosting payments through phones, a measure aimed at curbing the coronavirus by reducing the physical exchange of cash.Kenya is ramping up its use of technology platforms offered by Vodafone Group Plc’s M-Pesa, Airtel Kenya Ltd. and Telkom Kenya Ltd. since the pandemic to disburse aid directly to businesses and individuals using mobile money rather than through banks or food parcels. Ghana on Wednesday also started pumping stimulus to at least 100,000 micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises using mobile money.Pioneered by Vodafone’s Nairobi-based Safaricom Plc in 2007, mobile money has become an indispensable part of how Africa’s 1.2 billion people pay for goods and services, buy funeral cover or borrow money, without a smartphone. Now, the need from governments to find a quick and safe way of sending funds during the pandemic is underscoring the service’s increasingly systemic role.“Government disbursing monies via M-Pesa shows high integrity has been accorded to the platform,” said Tracy Kivunyu, an analyst at Tellimer Ltd. in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.While Europeans are shunning cash for cards over hygiene concerns, some African nations lack the infrastructure to rely only on plastic. As restrictions on movement to curb Covid-19 infections prevent customers from accessing cash, more are turning to mobile money to fill the gap. After Kenya’s partial lockdown started in March, a million new users joined M-Pesa, taking subscribers to 25 million, or about three quarters of Kenyans over 15.In Ghana, mobile money purchases reached a record in March, according to central bank data, while a cash shortage in Zimbabwe means 90% of transactions are done digitally. Nigerian startup digital bank Kuda said it opened more accounts in April than the prior three months combined. Togo, a nation of eight million, was able to distribute emergency financial support to 500,000 people, mostly women, in less than two weeks using mobile phones, according to the International Monetary Fund.Top Market“These changes, triggered by Covid-19, have enabled the acceleration and scaling of cashless and digital economies,” said Serigne Dioum, head of mobile-financial services at MTN Group, the continent’s largest wireless carrier. “They support our ambition to transition to an end-to-end platform, creating a digital market place, connecting consumers to businesses, and businesses to businesses.”Mobile money is the fastest-growing source of income for wireless-network operators like Johannesburg-based MTN and the African units of Newbury, England-based Vodafone Group. Sub-Saharan Africa has more mobile-money accounts than anywhere else in the world, with about 396 million at the end of 2018, or 46% of all customers, according to the GSMA, the global mobile-operator industry group.Heightened reluctance to use potentially virus-spreading cash will probably continue once the economies rebound, Peter Ndegwa, the chief executive officer of Safaricom, who took the post in April, said in an interview. M-Pesa is used by more than 37 million people across seven African countries.The crisis has also quickened the next phase of M-Pesa’s development: a bigger push into financial services for Kenya’s small- to medium-sized businesses. Expanding revenue streams into business-related payments will help generate higher margins from M-Pesa’s ecosystem, said Tellimer’s Kivunyu.Safaricom has 173,000 merchant partners who can receive payments over M-Pesa and has the technology to enable more services once regulatory approvals are granted.“In terms of employment, the small business sector is the lifeline of this country,” Ndegwa said. That led to a partnership between Safaricom and Visa Inc. to explore and develop digital payment systems to further expand M-Pesa’s reach. It also ties into Safaricom’s strategy of coaxing more people onto 4G devices, which would let customers access more sophisticated financial services. Most Kenyans don’t have internet-enabled phones, so half of M-Pesa transfers are made via text message.In Ghana, companies other than mobile network operators can now get licenses, which could prompt a drop in prices with more competition, said Archie Hesse, CEO of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Ltd. Ghana is disbursing part of its 600 million cedis ($104 million) Covid-19 stimulus package via mobile money, said Kosi Yankey-Ayeh, executive director of the National Board for Small Scale Industries.The start of MTN’s mobile-money service in Nigeria in August, along with initial approvals for Globacom Ltd. and 9Mobile, means a sleeping giant is awakening in Africa’s most populous country, long served only by banks. Uzoma Dozie, CEO of Sparkle Ltd., a Lagos-based digital bank that began operations this month, expects to reach half a million customers in the next 18 months.“This pandemic has been a defining moment for mobile-money providers, said Akinwale Goodluck, head of Sub-Saharan Africa for GSMA. “It indicates that Africa can lead the world in digital financial transformation toward a cashless society.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- FX Empire
Ford Motor Join Hands With Vodafone for 5G Network in The UK
Ford Motor has signed a deal with Vodafone to install a fifth-generation technology network at its electrified powertrain facility in Essex.
- Reuters
Ford signs deal with Vodafone for private 5G network in UK
The project is part of a 65-million-pound investment in 5G backed by the UK government, according to Ford and Vodafone, and would be among the first of its kind in Britain. The private 5G network at Ford's facility will replace older Wi-Fi networks and help speed up the production of EV components, according to the companies.
- Fool.co.uk
Forget the Cash ISA! I’d buy Vodafone shares to get rich
Vodafone shares offer one of the best dividend yields in the FTSE 100, which may mean they produce much better returns than the market's best Cash ISA.The post Forget the Cash ISA! I'd buy Vodafone shares to get rich appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Bloomberg
Vodafone Invites Pitches for $2 Billion Tower IPO
(Bloomberg) -- Vodafone Group Plc has invited advisers to pitch for a role on the planned initial public offering of its European towers unit, which could raise more than 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said.The U.K. carrier asked potential underwriters to submit proposals next month, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. It plans to list the business as soon as early 2021 and is considering seeking a valuation of 10 billion euros to 20 billion euros, the people said.Rothschild is helping manage the IPO preparations as financial adviser to Vodafone, according to the people. The role typically involves overseeing the selection of deal arrangers as well as making recommendations on other aspects of the listing.Telecom operators are increasingly seeking ways to extract value from their tower portfolios. Wireless infrastructure has been drawing interest from investors attracted to the steady, long-term nature of the assets. Vodafone’s listing could help revive the European IPO market, which is on track for the slowest first half since 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.Vodafone is leaning toward Frankfurt as a listing venue, though no final decisions have been made, the people said. Deliberations are at an early stage, and the amount it ultimately raises will depend on market conditions and the percentage stake it sells in the offering, according to the people.Representatives for Vodafone and Rothschild declined to comment.Vodafone announced last year that it had plans to carve out its towers business and consider it for an IPO or minority stake sale. The new unit was expected to include about 61,700 masts in 10 countries, Vodafone said at the time, with operations likely to generate about 900 million euros of annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.London and Frankfurt are both strong contenders for a listing venue, Vodafone’s Chief Executive Officer Nick Read said on a May media call.(Updates with Rothschild response in sixth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
UK tells telcos to stockpile Huawei gear in face of U.S. sanctions: letter
British security officials have told UK telecom operators to ensure they have adequate stockpiles of Huawei equipment due to fears that new U.S. sanctions will disrupt the Chinese firm's ability to maintain critical supplies, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Britain granted Huawei a limited role in its future 5G networks in January, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson has since come under renewed pressure from Washington and some lawmakers in his own party who say the company's equipment is a security risk. Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations.
- Fool.co.uk
Is the Vodafone share price too cheap to ignore?
The Vodafone share price has crashed over the past five years. Here's why I think we've passed the bottom and it's time to buy.The post Is the Vodafone share price too cheap to ignore? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Fool.co.uk
Forget gold and Bitcoin. The market crash is your chance to buy bargain FTSE 100 stocks
This year's stock market crash came as a massive shock but it is also a fantastic opportunity to build wealth for the future.The post Forget gold and Bitcoin. The market crash is your chance to buy bargain FTSE 100 stocks appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Zacks
CommScope Deploys Smart Home Solution With Vodafone Germany
CommScope (COMM) brings an avant-garde product backed by next-gen broadband technology, DOCSIS 3.1, to enhance the connected home experience of Vodafone Germany's subscribers.
- Fool.co.uk
Don’t waste the sale! 2 cheap stocks I’d buy and hold today
These two cheap stocks are a good choice for a long-term investor's portfolio. Now is an ideal time to buy them on sale, says Rachael FitzGerald-Finch.The post Don't waste the sale! 2 cheap stocks I'd buy and hold today appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Stockopedia
What does the future hold for the Vodafone share price?
The Vodafone (LON:VOD) share price has risen by 2.49% over the past month and it’s currently trading at 123.02. For investors considering whether to buy, hold...
- Reuters
Vodafone says UK's desire to lead in 5G will suffer a blow if Huawei is ripped out
"The UK's leadership in 5G will be lost if mobile operators are forced to spend time and money replacing existing equipment", Scott Petty, Vodafone UK's chief technology officer, told Reuters in an emailed statement. The British government should make efforts to expand 5G coverage and invest in the next stage of this technology instead of stripping out the equipment of the Chinese telecoms equipment maker, Petty said.
- Reuters
Thousands of Vodafone UK customers face call connection problems
The issue for most customers seemed to be resolved within an hour, with Vodafone saying it was caused by a change the company had made to block a range of telephone numbers used to make spam calls. "We'd like to apologise to any customers who struggled to make phone calls this evening," Vodafone said in a statement.
- Fool.co.uk
Have £1,000 to invest? I’d buy these FTSE 100 dividend stocks
Jonathan Smith says why he's excited about Morrisons and Vodafone as FTSE 100 dividend stocks to generate income during a looming recession.The post Have £1,000 to invest? I'd buy these FTSE 100 dividend stocks appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Fool.co.uk
Retirement savings: I’d buy these 2 bargain FTSE 100 shares to become an ISA millionaire
These two FTSE 100 (INDEXFTSE:UKX) shares appear to offer good value for money that could help you to build a seven-figure ISA over the long run.The post Retirement savings: I'd buy these 2 bargain FTSE 100 shares to become an ISA millionaire appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Fool.co.uk
Could investing in the FTSE 100 telecom giants make you rich?
Increased home working and the roll-out of 5G networks makes FTSE 100 telecom stocks a hot investment theme. Ben Race explores how this could make you rich…The post Could investing in the FTSE 100 telecom giants make you rich? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
- Bloomberg
WhatsApp Gets a Raw Deal in Payments
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Money is many things, but it’s not fake news. So why block WhatsApp from spreading it around?India is the laboratory of choice for Western tech firms to test out their mobile payment capabilities so they can be rolled out from Bangladesh to Nigeria. Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg entered the fray two years ago by enabling the popular messaging service WhatsApp to send and receive money in India. But the beta version, limited to 1 million users, keeps getting blocked from becoming a full-fledged service.Meanwhile, rivals such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google Pay, Walmart Inc.-owned PhonePe and Softbank Group Corp.-backed Paytm are dominating India’s mobile transfers landscape. The troika led with 75 million, 60 million and 30 million customers transacting last month, respectively, according to TechCrunch.While Facebook Inc. deserves scrutiny globally for providing a platform for hate speech, voter manipulation and dissemination of untruth, cashless transfers is one area where WhatsApp can be a force for good. That’s especially true in emerging economies like India. As the Covid-19 lockdown has underscored, hundreds of millions of rural migrant workers in urban centers lack both liquid savings and a state-provided safety net. Increasingly ubiquitous smartphones can bring vulnerable citizens the financial security that bank branches can’t supply. To restrain WhatsApp is a waste of the infrastructure India has built. Four years ago, the country set up a shared interface linking more than 150 participating banks. An account holder in any of them can send or receive money to anybody else on the network. The two parties don’t need to know anything more than each other’s mobile number or a virtual ID. From Google to Walmart, any app can tap the common protocol, which already supports transactions worth more than 10% of gross domestic product. Google is so impressed it wants the U.S. Federal Reserve to consider adopting the standard. WhatsApp needs a nod from the regulator, the National Payments Corporation of India, to throw open the switch. The first roadblock was the central bank’s requirement that payment data be stored only locally. That hurdle has been crossed, but the service remains restricted. In February, a little-known think tank filed a lawsuit, asking India’s Supreme Court to block payments on WhatsApp “since it’s known to have failed to secure sensitive data of its users.” In an affidavit this week, WhatsApp said that the petition by the “busybody” was not maintainable. Legal challenges in India can drag on endlessly.The popularity of the messaging app, which has more than 400 million Indian users, is its biggest strength and its worst enemy. Take pinBox, which wants to introduce digital micro-pensions to the masses across Asia and Africa. It’s waiting eagerly for WhatsApp payments. The combination of financial and digital illiteracy can be a showstopper; it’s much easier to promote a saving culture on a messaging app where people spend most of their waking hours, anyway. The familiarity with the medium cuts both ways. Recently, the service was used to accuse Muslims in India of deliberately transmitting Covid-19, triggering assaults on the minority community. But then, disinformation isn’t limited either to WhatsApp or India. TikTok, the most-downloaded app during the pandemic, had posts claiming that 5G technology helps spread the virus, fueling violence against telecommunications workers and equipment across the U.K. and Europe. In India, the user-video platform has raised hackles for enabling sharing of content that promotes acid attacks on women.While regulators should push Zuckerberg to keep making social media safer, for instance by restricting message forwarding, they need to be pragmatic when it comes to online payments. China is far ahead. But that market, in the pincer grasp of Alipay and WeChat Pay wallets, isn’t open to U.S. firms. Besides, the scope for replacing cash is bigger in India, where 14% of money supply is still currency in circulation, a figure that China has crunched to 4%. The size of the opportunity is why India is attracting attention.Facebook recently took a 10% stake in Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Platforms Ltd. for $5.7 billion. Jio’s 4G network is India’s biggest, with nearly 400 million customers. Ambani, Asia’s richest man, wants to connect a billion-plus buyers with neighborhood stores, combining physical and digital retail. Payments via WhatsApp will be a way to achieve that link, with brands giving discounts and financiers offering in-store credit based on Jio’s scoring model.Others will catch up. Amazon.com Inc. is planning to take a $2 billion stake in Bharti Airtel Ltd., Jio’s closest rival, Reuters has reported. According to the Financial Times, Google is exploring an investment in Vodafone Group Plc’s struggling India wireless business. (Vodafone Idea Ltd. said there’s no such proposal before its board.) The rising global interest in digitizing the billion-plus-people economy could be sustained, as it coincides with what may be a long-drawn tech cold war between China and the West. Although India has recognized privacy to be a fundamental right, giving grounds for legal challenges against tech firms, it has yet to enact a data protection law. That’s where the focus has to be, not on limiting competition. The central bank needs to strike a balance between safeguarding financial stability and encouraging innovation such as “account aggregators,” who compile and share financial data with the consent of users looking for loans or insurance. With most manufacturing and services in disarray, helping money go viral is India’s best chance to break out of the Covid gloom.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Andy Mukherjee is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies and financial services. He previously was a columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. He has also worked for the Straits Times, ET NOW and Bloomberg News.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Simply Wall St.
Earnings Update: Vodafone Group Plc (LON:VOD) Just Reported Its Yearly Results And Analysts Are Updating Their Forecasts
It's been a good week for Vodafone Group Plc (LON:VOD) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest...
- Bloomberg
Amazon Eyes $2 Billion Stake in Bharti Airtel: Report
(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. is in preliminary talks to buy a stake in No. 2 Indian carrier Bharti Airtel Ltd. for at least $2 billion, Reuters reported, joining Facebook Inc. and other U.S. giants in betting on one of the world’s fastest-growing internet arenas.The U.S. online retailer is in early-stage discussions to buy about a 5% stake in the Indian wireless operator, Reuters said, citing anonymous sources. A deal will help Amazon access Bharti’s 300 million subscribers -- a user base akin to the entire U.S. population. On Friday, the Indian carrier said in a statement it wasn’t considering any proposal to sell a stake to Amazon, referring to reports as “speculative.”American technology and investment giants have been buying stakes in Indian companies to build their presence in Asia’s second-most populous nation. Facebook agreed to invest about $5.7 billion into a unit of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. in April, while Microsoft Corp. is reportedly considering a stake in the same company.Amazon already has deep roots in India, where Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos has visited and vowed to build one of his biggest e-commerce operations outside of the U.S. Bezos, now the world’s richest man, said during a trip in January that his company would invest another $1 billion on top of the billions it’s shelled out to bring small and medium-size businesses online. Amazon is now vying with Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart to tap an increasingly affluent population adopting smartphones at a rapid clip.Read more: Jeff Bezos’s India Visit Marked by Probe and ProtestsAn Amazon spokeswoman in India declined to comment. “We routinely work with all digital and OTT players and have deep engagement with them to bring their products, content and services for our wide customer base. Beyond that there is no other activity to report,” a Bharti spokesperson said.An influx of capital would be welcome to New Delhi-based Bharti Airtel, which has come under pressure to beef up its offerings ever since Ambani’s technology venture went on a deal spree to secure about $10 billion in investment from Facebook to KKR & Co. Airtel’s billionaire Chairman Sunil Mittal may be looking to leverage the diverse businesses in his empire just as Ambani goes into overdrive to transform his oil-and-petrochemicals company into an Indian e-commerce and digital payments titan with Jio Platforms.Read more: How Facebook’s Reliance Deal Upends a $1 Trillion Digital ArenaIn its 25 years of operations, Bharti Airtel has survived frequent policy changes in one of the world’s toughest telecommunications markets. It lost its position as India’s largest wireless carrier last year to Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., which debuted in 2016 and shook up the industry with free calls and cheap data. The most recent blow to Bharti Airtel came in October, when the nation’s top court in a shock ruling ordered it to pay $3 billion in back fees.The technology ambitions of Ambani, Asia’s richest man, have turned the spotlight on his telecommunications rivals, including Vodafone Idea Ltd., the struggling Indian business of British operator Vodafone Group Plc. The Financial Times reported May 28 that Alphabet Inc.’s Google is considering acquiring a stake in that venture. Vodafone Idea said it isn’t currently considering any such proposal.Besides telecommunications, Mittal’s Bharti Enterprises has businesses spanning insurance, real estate, education and farm food.(Updates with Bharti Airtel’s comment from the second paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
The Numbers That Show It’s Hard for Britain to Ditch Huawei
(Bloomberg) -- Britain is rethinking its cautious welcome of Huawei Technologies Co. into the country’s fifth-generation mobile networks. Walking away from the Chinese technology giant won’t be easy, or cheap.Growing tensions with Beijing have led Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to seek out credible alternatives to Huawei’s antennas, routers and switching gear, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. That could win him favors from Washington, which has urged its allies to ban the company.U.K. Opens Talks With Huawei Rival as Johnson Confronts ChinaYet British carriers are already building 5G networks using Huawei. Any other supplier -- even Huawei’s big European rivals Nokia Oyj and Ericsson AB -- would struggle to fill the void.35%Intelligence officials want the government to make Britain’s networks less vulnerable to spying and sabotage of services and infrastructure. So the government has set out measures to tighten security and oversight of the four mobile networks -- BT Group Plc’s EE, Vodafone Group Plc, CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.’s Three UK and Telefonica SA’s O2.The rules are due to reach Parliament later this year for approval. However, several lawmakers from Johnson’s own party have pushed back, saying Huawei must have no role in 5G.That would send a shock wave through Britain’s telecommunications supply chain. The Chinese vendor already accounts for about 35% of the antennas that transmit signals using current 4G technology. With BT, Britain’s dominant phone company, it’s more than half.Those aging systems are now under strain from bandwidth-hogging applications such as mobile video, so carriers are desperate to upgrade to 5G. As that equipment must be compatible with 4G, it’s far simpler if it all comes from the same supplier.2023Since 5G services were launched in Britain, Huawei has further tightened its grip. Most 5G antennas used by BT and Three are from Huawei and the Chinese company makes up a large proportion of Vodafone’s new network too. 5G networks are far from complete, and the industry is set to install more gear from Nokia and Ericsson later. But Huawei’s early advantage makes it harder and costlier to backtrack now.It hasn’t all gone Huawei’s way. U.K. security officials wary of the risk that Huawei’s systems could be commandeered by hackers or hostile states are making sure its gear cannot be used in the most sensitive “core” of mobile networks -- the part where data are gathered to be processed and redistributed. BT is due to switch the core of the EE network from Huawei to Ericsson before 2023. Other carriers say they don’t use Huawei in the core.Still, U.S. officials have said the idea of core and non-core is a gray area with 5G, in which much of the data are processed on the periphery. What’s more, Huawei has been involved in other sensitive projects, for example working on a security gateway for O2’s network. Personal profiles of some telecom engineers on LinkedIn say they are integrating a real-time payment system from Huawei with O2’s core.500 MillionBT said in January that the 35% cap on Huawei 5G and fiber broadband equipment imposed in January will cost it 500 million pounds ($624 million). That’s partly the price of ripping out and replacing much of the underlying Huawei 4G gear inherited when it bought EE. Banning Huawei from 5G entirely would see those costs multiply across the sector, and inflate procurement spending by dampening competition, effectively leaving Huawei’s slice of the market to just Ericsson and Nokia, according to a study commissioned by industry group Mobile UK.Huawei is considered the market leader and its equipment could be nine or more months ahead of the pack, technology research firm Assembly said in the report. It put the cost to the U.K. economy at between 4.5 billion and 6.8 billion pounds if Huawei is barred, and said 5G rollouts could fall behind by up to two years.That would look bad for Prime Minister Johnson, who has pledged to upgrade the entire country to gigabit data speeds by 2025. Coronavirus has underlined the importance of Britain’s communications infrastructure for millions of voters forced to work from home, and the country now faces a dramatic recession. With the economy is on its knees, it’s not a good time to be ripping up and redesigning the nation’s networks. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
