BT is scrambling to rip Huawei equipment out of its network before the end of the year to avoid hefty fines.

The telecoms giant still has not removed all kit made by the controversial Chinese company from its “core” network, with just 11 days left before a government-imposed deadline of December 31.

Millions of customers still need to be transferred to another supplier and it is not clear whether BT will manage to do so in time.

The Government has threatened fines of up to 10pc of turnover, or £100,000 per day, to any telecoms supplier that fails to meet the deadline.

BT pulled in revenues of £20.7bn in the year to the end of March, meaning it could be fined as much as £2bn.

The company, which owns the EE mobile network, has already been given an 11-month extension to the original deadline of January 2023.

Bosses said the original timeline was too tight and warned of serious disruption to millions of customers if it pushed ahead too quickly.

BT, which relied heavily on Huawei equipment to build its full-fibre and 5G networks, has said it will cost £500m to rip out the kit and replace it with technology made by Swedish rival Ericsson.

The Government banned Huawei from critical telecoms networks in 2020 amid concerns about the company’s Chinese ownership.

US officials have repeatedly warned that Huawei technology could be used as a backdoor for espionage or sabotage. The company has always denied the allegations.

The December 31 deadline applies to any kit in the “core” part of the network. A different deadline for removing kit from masts was met in July, while providers must remove all Huawei products from their 5G networks by the end of 2027.

Ofcom is due to report on progress to Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan in the spring. BT’s potential to miss its target was first reported by Bloomberg.

A BT spokesman said: “We’ve met our initial targets – both our radio access network (RAN) traffic levels and sites were below the levels required by the Government for its July 2023 deadline. Our focus is now on work in the core for the Government’s deadline.”

A government spokesman said: “We continue to work with operators to remove Huawei technology as quickly as possible while minimising disruption for consumers, and operators remain on track to remove it from 5G public networks by the end of 2027.

“We have already introduced an immediate ban on the installation of new Huawei equipment, limiting their presence in full-fibre infrastructure, and are removing technology from sites with national security implications.”

Ministers have been accused of “letting Huawei off the hook” after The Telegraph revealed that an annual report on Huawei’s security risks was quietly scrapped.

The Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) – dubbed The Cell – draws up the report each year. But it has not been published since 2021 after then-culture secretary Nadine Dorries ditched the policy.