BRITAIN’S dominant phone company is looking for a new broadband equipment supplier to reduce its reliance on Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co. as it prepares to connect millions of homes to optic fiber.

BT Group Plc’s infrastructure division Openreach has started an evaluation process to seek a third strategic vendor alongside Huawei and Finland’s Nokia Oyj for the full-fiber rollout, a spokesman said. U.S.-based vendors are likely to be among the bidders, said people familiar with the matter.

“We already manage a large and diverse supply chain across our full-fiber build, and we’re constantly reviewing our options to make sure we can carry on building a high-quality network that offers great value for money,” the BT Openreach spokesman said.

He declined to say which companies may be considered.

Britain’s National Infrastructure Commission said last year it would cost 33.4 billion pounds (US$43 billion) to build and maintain a national full-fiber network over 30 years.

Adding a third vendor would bring bigger supply capacity and more competition that could push down costs for BT, which is struggling to accelerate network upgrades without cutting dividends to shareholders.

The move also underscores the pressure to curtail Huawei’s dominant position in communication networks following warnings that the company may be a security risk, something Huawei denies.

Those security concerns around Huawei have tended to focus on its role in next-generation 5G wireless networks.

The fiber contract could be a potential game-changer for the winning bidder’s U.K. operations. Openreach’s full-fiber network now reaches about 1.9 million homes and the company is ramping up spending with the aim of connecting 15 million or more by the mid-2020s, about half of the country.

BT will be seeking proposals from potential suppliers by early January and aims to make a decision some time in the second quarter of next year, said one of the people familiar with the matter.

Whoever gets the deal, it’s likely to be welcomed in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to persuade allies to ban Huawei from their networks but the campaign has failed to threaten the Shenzhen-based vendor’s dominance in network equipment.

Britain and other European nations have been wary of singling out Huawei for punishment and have leaned toward allowing it continued access to less sensitive parts of their networks on condition that its activities are monitored more closely.

(SD-Agencies)