• The contract renewal covers the 5G user-plane core network for residential customers and extends Huawei’s role until 2030.
• In parallel, Telefónica has awarded its enterprise and government core network contract to Nokia, advancing a multi-vendor approach to balance cost and security.
What happened：Contract details and vendor split
With the goal to continue offering equipment for its 5G core network, which serves retail (residential) prospects in Spain, Telefónica extended its contract with Chinese vendor Huawei in late 2024, extending it until 2030. In early 2025, the operator separately provided Finnish company Nokia to provide 5G core equipment for its enterprise and government services, further strengthening the split-supplier model.Meanwhile, Telefónica’s Chief Operating Officer, Emilio Gayo, has stated that the company is “reducing its exposure to Huawei” in Spain in order to conform with European Union recommendations advising operators to phase out Huawei gear due to security concerns.
Unlike several EU countries (such as Germany) that have implemented outright bans on Huawei for 5G infrastructure, Spain has not formally restricted the vendor, enabling this contract to proceed within the bounds of national regulation.
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Why it’s important
This renewal demonstrates Telefónica’s practical approach to telecommunications, which takes into account both cost-effectiveness and changes in geopolitics. Telefónica gets competitive pricing by retaining Huawei for the consumer get while reducing risk through diversification with Nokia for more delicate business and governmental tasks.
The decision also underscores Spain’s nuanced position within EU telecom policy: although the European Commission has repeatedly warned member states about “high-risk” vendors like Huawei, Spain has opted not to impose bans—contrasting sharply with policies in Germany, Sweden or the UK.
By maintaining Huawei’s involvement only in the user-plane of the residential core—while clouding control-plane and enterprise/government responsibilities with Nokia—the operator is threading a fine needle between regulatory caution, cost pressures, and technical continuity.
