Huawei’s 5G ambitions in Europe under a cloud after UK ban, EC report
- German support, even if only in noncore areas, is vital if Huawei is to expand its business in Europe, according to analysts
- Europe is where a large chunk of Huawei’s 91 5G network projects are located, putting it ahead of Ericsson and Nokia as of February 2020
European nations are facing increasing pressure to exclude Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies from their 5G roll outs after the UK decision to ban the company completely and a new recommendation from the European Commission to restrict “high risk” suppliers.
Huawei is not named in the 44-page document released on Friday by the Commission, but the criteria for high-risk suppliers includes the likelihood of interference from a non-EU country, ability to ensure supply, and overall quality of products and cybersecurity practices.
“Most Member States have not yet established or communicated clear plans to effectively address existing situations of dependency on high-risk suppliers and prevent future dependencies,” the report said. “Progress is urgently needed to mitigate this important risk.”
It added that most members were in the process of strengthening regulatory powers, including ensuring that “authorities have powers to regulate the procurement of network equipment and services by operators, based on security-related grounds”.
Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The report comes at a critical time for the Chinese company, with Germany also looking at whether to exclude Huawei after the UK decision.