Huawei could suffer another blockage, this time in Europe

The European Commission may decide to ban Huawei 5G antennas in Europe. A new blow for the Chinese manufacturer.

Four years after the start of the US embargo on Huawei products, the Chinese manufacturer could face new disappointments in the coming weeks, this time in Europe.

Indeed, as reported by FinancialTimes, the European Union could in turn ban Huawei from marketing some of its products. However, it would not be an embargo as strong as the one that affected the United States – and which prevents American companies from doing business with Huawei – but only the distribution of 5G antennas.

Indeed, in addition to its smartphones, routers or laptops, Huawei is also one of the three main suppliers of mobile antennas for operators, alongside Ericsson and Nokia. A position that has made it a partner of choice for European operators when deploying the latest generation of mobile networks.

However, it seems that this strength of Huawei in the field of mobile networks worries the European Commission. As indicated by the FinancialTimes, Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, brought together several European ministers in charge of telecommunications last Friday. While a third of states in the European Union have banned operators from using Huawei 5G antennas, he judges that ” it’s not enough. And it exposes the collective security of the Union “. In its viewfinder in particular, Germany, whose operator Deutsche Telekom uses Huawei antennas.

A ban considered by the European Commission

The European Commission could therefore go further depending on the FinancialTimes and present a mandatory ban on companies deemed to pose a security risk, such as Huawei “.

On the side of Huawei, we defend ourselves from any espionage: “ no court has ever ruled that Huawei engaged in intellectual property theft or ordered Huawei to pay damages for infringing third party intellectual property “. The Chinese manufacturer also indicates that such a decision would amount to ” violate the principles of fairness and non-discrimination, but also the laws and regulations of the European Union “. He also recalls that ” Huawei equipment is regularly and closely checked by governments and health agencies in accordance with cybersecurity standards “. ” No observation has ever shown that Huawei equipment has a backdoor in the past two decades “, also underlines the manufacturer.

Remember that French operators were able to use Huawei equipment for the deployment of 5G in France. This is the case of Bouygues Telecom and SFR. Nevertheless, the two operators will have to dismantle these antennas no later than 2028.

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