The Stockholm Administrative Court has temporarily invalidated Huawei’s exclusion from the auction of 5G frequencies in Sweden. The court announced on Monday evening in Stockholm that legal action could be taken against the decision of the regulatory authority to exclude the Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE from the auction. The rules relating to Huawei are not to be applied until further notice, because the outcome of the proceedings “can be viewed as uncertain”. The regulatory authority PTS then canceled the start of the auction planned for Tuesday at short notice.

Auction canceled at short notice PTS announced the award conditions for a 5G license in October and explicitly excluded the Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE from the 5G expansion. Network operators who want to receive a license to use the frequencies bought at auction must therefore forego the use of Chinese suppliers. In addition, existing Chinese hardware that takes on central functions is to be replaced by 2025. In response to a lawsuit brought by Huawei, the administrative court has now temporarily repealed these regulations.

The auction of the 3.5 and 2.3 GHz frequencies was supposed to be held on Start tuesday. When the auction can start is open. It will largely depend on how long the legal dispute over the award conditions lasts. The administrative court has suspended the rules for interim legal protection, but has not yet made a decision on the matter. “PTS will continue to analyze the administrative court’s decision and examine the possibilities of starting the auction as soon as possible,” the regulatory authority announced on Tuesday.

Huawei and ZTE are controversial “We welcome the decision of the Swedish administrative court to suspend Huawei’s market exclusion from the 5G expansion in Sweden until further notice,” said a company spokesman. “We are convinced that the decision to deny network operators the option of using Huawei technology is based neither on a proper process nor on a comprehensible reason.” The regulatory authority’s decision lacks neutrality, independence and objectivity. “We see no comprehensible reasons for market access restrictions.”

Huawei and ZTE are controversial, also because the US government is pushing for a waiver. Washington accuses the suppliers of maintaining close contacts with the Chinese military and the Chinese Communist Party. Other countries also perceive this as a security risk. Huawei always rejects the allegations. A possible exclusion of Huawei is also controversially discussed in Germany. The group has supplied many providers in Europe with infrastructure for the existing 4G network (LTE) and also played a role in their 5G planning. However, European network operators are increasingly turning to alternative providers such as Ericsson and Nokia, at least for their core networks.

(vbr)