LISBON (Reuters) – The CSSC council of Portugal’s prime minister announced on Monday that it is collaborating with telecom operators to enact a high-level resolution that effectively excludes Huawei’s equipment from the country’s 5G mobile networks. This decision comes despite legal objections from the Chinese company.
Although the resolution did not mention Huawei by name, it is considered a significant blow to the company’s efforts to enter Portugal’s 5G market with standalone networks and extend contracts on existing 4G platforms. At the end of August, Huawei filed a lawsuit against the resolution with a Lisbon court, seeking protection of its legitimate interests and legal rights.
Portugal’s leading operators, Altice, NOS, and Vodafone, have already stated that they will not utilize Huawei equipment in their 5G core networks. This aligns with the concerns voiced by Europe and the United States regarding potential security compromises from Chinese involvement in critical infrastructure. Both Beijing and Huawei have rejected these allegations.
ANACOM, the country’s telecom watchdog responsible for implementing the resolution, confirmed that it will execute all security-related decisions made within the national and European framework. ANACOM President Joao Cadete de Matos emphasized the ongoing collaboration between the watchdog and operators and expressed optimism for successful execution of the resolution.
Regarding the Huawei lawsuit, Matos indicated the need to await its development and highlighted ANACOM’s commitment to fulfilling the country’s expectations using a careful and rigorous approach.
In an earlier interview with Reuters, Portugal’s Secretary of State for Digitalisation, Mario Campolargo, who also chairs the CSSC, stated that the May resolution was based on an independent and strict security assessment that followed European Union guidelines. He emphasized that the resolution did not specifically target Chinese suppliers.
Matos emphasized the close cooperation between the government and ANACOM in their efforts.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
