Huawei Launches Legal Challenge Against Sweden After 5G Auction Exclusion Amid Tech Nationalism Rise

The row comes as the PTA is set to resume spectrum auctions on 19 January after a court injunction blocked the sale in November last year, namely after the Chinese telecoms giant raised concerns about the exclusion.

Huawei has launched a legal contest against Sweden’s decision to ban the Chinese telecoms giant from 5G mid-band spectrum auctions in the country, Reuters reported on Thursday.

The legal action will also challenge the Swedish Post and Telecoms Authority’s (PTS) decision in October to restrict operators using Huawei kit. According to Reuters, the action was filed to Sweden’s Supreme Administrative Court earlier in the week.

The world’s largest IT equipment supplier added that conditions from the PTS would exclude it from the Swedish market after failing to give Huawei a chance to respond, the report added.

Huawei slammed the decision in October as being “simply based on groundless presumption” and “unfair and unacceptable”.

But the Swedish Court of Appeal approved the PTS conditions, allowing the auction to resume, but also allowed the Shenzhen-based firm to launch further court battles, Reuters reported.

Borje Ekholm, chief executive of Swedish telecom Ericsson, recently voiced strong concerns over the auction exclusion, stating the move could split the global telecoms industry, leading to stumbling blocks in innovation and 5G restrictions.

He added in a separate statement that a slowdown in rolling out 5G could harm the European economy as enterprises depended on the technology for innovating businesses.

Huawei has been targeted by the outgoing Trump administration in the US trade war against China, which saw the Chinese telecom giant placed on an entity list with ZTE and dozens of mainland tech firms in May 2019, with Washington citing national security risks. Huawei was also designated a national security risk in the US, with the Trump administration citing alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party and military, without providing evidence.

Sourse: sputniknews.com