“Vodafone and BT took a calculated risk to buy Huawei,” Strand told Quartz in an email, “and it backfired. It appears increasingly that the companies must live with the consequences of their decisions.”

Andre Pienaar, founder of C5 Capital, an investment group focused on technology, argues there are also economic benefits attached to switching suppliers, such as “new opportunities for British innovation and jobs as Huawei’s old-fashioned hardware products are replaced with innovative and open software solutions.”

“The new risk mitigation measures announced this week by the Government are in the interest of consumers who deserve the best cybersecurity standards to protect their privacy and safety,” he said.

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