EE will not be selling the next generation of Huawei phones due to concerns about whether the devices could receive operating system updates from Google.

It follows news that Huawei's access to Android updates has been revoked by Google in accordance with sanctions issued by the White House.

A spokesperson for EE, which is the UK's largest mobile network, has confirmed to Sky News that existing Huawei customers are not affected and devices that are still in stock will still be sold.

But they added that the company won't be selling new Huawei smartphones as part of its 5G push until it has clarification on the situation with Android, as it could leave customers without security updates.

The announcement was made as the company launched the first phase of its 5G roll-out, which will launch properly on 30 May in six cities around the UK: London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester.


It said it plans to reach 1,500 sites by the end of 2019, including the "busiest parts" of Bristol, Coventry, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.

EE announced earlier this year that it would test its 5G mobile network during Glastonbury as part of its trials of the technology.

It said it will install five temporary masts across the Worthy Farm site, which will enable festival-goers to connect to 2G, 3G, 4G and new 5G networks.

The non-standalone 5G service still uses the 4G system's core network, although its radio antennas are the latest technology and are expected to provide a considerable boost to connectivity.

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New phones which can support 5G connections from Samsung, OnePlus, LG and Oppo are also going on pre-order, although the company has paused the sale of Huawei devices.

EE expects that its standalone 5G network will be working in 2022.

The announcement comes just a day after a number of its customers were unable to make calls as the company's 4G network suffered an outage.

The network said only a "small number of customers were affected".