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HUAWEI

Denmark’s TDC shuns China’s Huawei for 5G rollout

Danish telecom group TDC has chosen Swedish firm Ericsson over existing provider Huawei to roll out its ultra-fast 5G mobile network across the country, as a debate rages over security concerns surrounding the Chinese giant.

Published: 19 March 2019 13:30 CET
Denmark’s TDC shuns China's Huawei for 5G rollout
A Huawei advertising logo at Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. Photo: Asger Ladefoged/Ritzau Scanpix

The US and several other Western nations have shut Huawei out of tenders for the development of fifth-generation, or 5G, networks, because of the company's close ties to the Chinese government.

“TDC has chosen Ericsson to build and deploy its 5G network,” TDC CEO Allison Kirkby said in a statement released on Monday night.

The statement from the company, Denmark’s largest telecom group, did not mention Huawei, which has equipped TDC's network since 2014.

“Over the past year, TDC has negotiated with several suppliers about the upcoming 5G rollout,” the statement said.

The decision comes as Germany launches an auction for the construction of its own 5G network after the US reportedly warned it could scale back the sharing of sensitive information with Berlin if it does not exclude hardware made by Huawei from the infrastructure.

The US has accused Beijing of using Huawei's 5G network gear as a Trojan horse, forcing operators to transmit data to the regime, but Washington has not provided evidence to support their suspicions.

Huawei has strenuously denied allegations its equipment could be used for espionage.

TDC did not disclose the value of the Ericsson deal, which will begin on April 1st and run until the end of 2023.

The Danish company hopes to offer its customers 5G by the end of next year.

READ ALSO: Danish mobile network failure hits 450,000 customers

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SECURITY

Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules

A Swedish ban on Chinese telecoms company Huawei was confirmed in court on Tuesday, citing the country's security as a just reason for banning its equipment in a 5G rollout.

Published: 23 June 2021 07:14 CEST
Swedish Huawei ban is legal, court rules
Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The administrative court in Stockholm ruled that the decision of the Swedish telecoms authority, PTS, to ban the use of equipment from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in a new Swedish 5G telecom network last October — a move that irked Beijing — was legal.

Equipment already installed must also be removed by January 1st, 2025.

“Sweden’s security is an important reason and the administrative court has considered that it’s only the security police and the military that together have a full picture when it comes to the security situation and threats against Sweden,” judge Ulrika Melin said in a statement.

Huawei denounced the ruling, but did not say whether it would appeal.

“We are of course noting that there has been no evidence of any wrongdoings by Huawei which is being used as basis for this verdict, it is purely based on assumption,” Kenneth Fredriksen, the company’s vice-president for Central, Eastern Europe and the Nordic region, told AFP.

Huawei will now evaluate the decision and the “see what kind of actions we will take to protect our rights,” Fredriksen added.

After the UK in the summer of 2020, Sweden became the second country in Europe and the first in the EU to explicitly ban Huawei from almost all of the network infrastructure needed to run its 5G network.

Beijing had warned that PTS’ decision could have “consequences” for the Scandinavian country’s companies in China, prompting Swedish telecom giant and Huawei competitor Ericsson to worry about retaliation.

“We will continue to be available to have constructive dialogues with Swedish authorities to see if we can find pragmatic ways of taking care of security and at the same time keeping an open and fair market like Sweden has always been,” Fredriksen said.

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