Vodafone's Chief Executive Nick Read said Britain's decision to ban China's Huawei from its 5G network should not be extrapolated to the rest of Europe because there were different geopolitics at play in other countries.

Earlier this week, the French finance minister vowed that Huawei will not be subject to a "blanket ban" in France. Bruno Le Maire said sites of particular sensitivity would be protected and French national security would not be comprised by the decision.

Huawei is an important supplier to the global telecommunication giant Vodafone, before the UK ban, the company repeatedly warned that removing Huawei equipment from their networks could lead to severe disruption for customers, and could cost the company billions of pounds.

One-third of the infrastructure parts Vodafone used in the UK are from Huawei, and the other major telecommunication provider in the UK, BT, has a even higher percentage of Huawei participation in its infrastructure layout, which is two-thirds.

(With input from Reuters)