China's Huawei has missed out on an early 5G deal with SK Telecom, which has chosen Europe's Ericsson and Nokia, alongside South Korea's Samsung, as the vendors that will initially build its next-generation mobile network.

The South Korean operator, widely regarded as a frontrunner in the development of 5G technology, is reported by several news outlets to have said it ruled out using Huawei in its final decision, without explaining why.

At the time of publication, SK Telecom (Nasdaq: SKM) had not responded to Light Reading's enquiries about Huawei's exclusion from the 5G project.

In July, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. was reported by Bloomberg to be vying for a 5G deal with all three of South Korea's national operators. At the time, Bloomberg said that initial 5G contracts with SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG U+could be worth as much as $9 billion.

Operator representatives were said to have expressed interest in using the Chinese vendor, but there is a possibility they have come under pressure from politicians arguing the company is a potential threat to national security because of its close links with the Chinese state.