Ericsson beat out rivals in replacing Huawei core network equipment for BT’s ongoing 5G network deployment. The deal follows a recent move by the United Kingdom to limit the use of equipment from China-based vendors in 5G networks.

The Ericsson deal will see the Sweden-based vendor deploy its dual-mode 5G core platform, which includes its evolved packet core (EPC) and 5G core products. That platform is a container-based, cloud-native package to support 4G LTE, 5G non-standalone (NSA), and 5G standalone (SA) as an integrated core.

For BT, the platform will include network orchestration and automation using cloud-native continuous delivery and integration (CI/CD) principles. It will use Ericsson’s Expert Analytics platform and software probes to integrate with BT’s existing customer experience management platforms. It will also run on BT’s Network Cloud and is part of the carrier’s move toward a single converged IP network.

The containerized core network functions will allow BT to more quickly spin up services and lower operational costs. Ericsson earlier this year updated its 5G software with the dual-mode core and support for the container running on bare metal cloud infrastructure that it said would save operators up to 30% on operational costs compared to virtual machines (VM).

“Having evaluated different 5G core vendors we have selected Ericsson as the best option on the basis of both lab performance and future roadmap,” BT CTIO Howard Watson noted in a statement. “An agile, cloud-native core infrastructure is at the heart of our ambition to enable the next generation of exciting 5G services for our customers and give the U.K. the world-class digital infrastructure it needs to win in the future global economy.”

Published reports indicated BT had been trialing equipment from Ericsson and its Nordic rival Nokia. That equipment will replace Huawei equipment being used in BT’s network.

BT’s mobile network is mostly handled by its subsidiary EE, which BT acquired in January 2016. That network includes a Huawei-based 4G LTE core that has since come under government scrutiny. In BT’s 2019 annual report, it stated that it had implemented plans to replace the Huawei core in order to reduce risks in the supply chain.

The U.K. government and its National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) earlier this year decreed that Huawei is a “high risk vendor” (HRV), which means it poses a “greater security and resilience risks to U.K. telecoms networks.” As such, equipment from HRVs must be “excluded from sensitive ‘core’ parts of 5G and gigabit-capable networks.”

Those excluded areas include the IP core; security functions; operating support systems (OSS); management and authentication; authorization and audit (AAA) functions; virtualization infrastructure that includes NFV infrastructure (NFVi); orchestrator and controller functions that include management and network orchestration (MANO) and SDN; network monitoring and optimization; interconnection equipment; internet gateway functions; and lawful intercept related functions.

Specific to 5G networks, equipment from HRVs are not allowed in 5G core database functions; a number of 5G core-related services including authentication server function, access and mobility management function, unstructured data storage function, network slice selection function, policy control function, and user plane function; and security edge protection proxy.

The government said it will allow operators to use Huawei equipment to construct radio access network (RAN) elements. However, it’s capping that usage at 35% of the total construct that “allows for effective cybersecurity risk management.” This would also seem to leave a fair share of business for other equipment vendors like Ericsson, Nokia, and Cisco. The Huawei usage also has geographical limitations tied to the location of sensitive, military, or government locations.

BT has stated that replacing Huawei equipment will cost it nearly $650 million over the next five years.