Huawei responds to Sweden’s ban on its participation in 5G

On Tuesday, an announcement from Swedish regulator prohibits operators from using equipment from Huawei and ZTE. The announcement warns operators to eliminate these companies before the spectrum auction that will hold next month. With regard to this ban, Huawei now has an official response. The company’s spokesperson reveals in a statement that Huawei is “in shock”. The Chinese manufacturer says that the Swedish government’s decision is “unfair and unacceptable”. Furthermore, Huawei’s assertion is that the ban is “completely based on unfounded assumptions”.

Huawei has been operating in Scandinavian countries for 20 years and has more than 30 years of operating history in more than 170 countries/regions. We have always maintained a “reliable record” without major security incidents.

“Huawei has never posed the slightest threat to Sweden’s cybersecurity, and will never. Excluding Huawei will not make Sweden’s 5G network more secure. On the contrary, competition and innovation will be severely hampered.”

In addition, Huawei spokesman said that the company will “carefully evaluate” the impact the Swedish Telecommunications Administration of the above decision, and hope that the Swedish government “in a spirit of fair and open markets,” re-evaluate this decision.

Sweden is the home country of one of the major competitors (Ericsson) in the global 5G network. The European country has announced the ban of Huawei and ZTE from its 5G construction. According to the Swedish regulating agency, the ban will be official before the spectrum auction scheduled for next month.

Under pressure from the United States, European governments have been evaluating the role of Chinese companies in building next-generation networks. In July of this year, the UK banned the Chinese manufacturer from its 5G network. It hopes to completely eliminate the company from its system by 2027.

SOUTH KOREA SAYS IT WILL NOT BAN HUAWEI

In other reports, South Korea has said that it will not ban a particular company. According to media reports, a South Korean diplomat revealed that in the fifth South Korea-U.S. strategic economic dialogue held on October 14, the U.S. side reiterated the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s proposed “clean network” plan, in the name of national security risks, to pressure South Korea to stop using Huawei and other Chinese technology companies’ 5G equipment.

However, the South Korean official responded by saying that the choice of equipment and technology used by telecom operators is the company’s own and that the South Korean government will not interfere with the decisions of private companies.