Despite ongoing legal disputes due to the exclusion of Huawei, the Swedish telecommunications authority PTS auctioned the coveted 5G frequencies on Tuesday. The approved companies Hi3G Access (Hutchison Group), Net4Mobility (Telenor and Tele 2) and Telia each have at least 100 MHz in for 5G designated 3.5 GHz band. The state communications service provider Teracom was the only bidder to secure 000 MHz in the 2.3 GHz band. According to the authorities, the auction, which was completed in just one day, brought in the equivalent of 229 million euros.

Payer had to postpone auction PTS originally had the auction for the beginning of November 2020 first had to cancel the planned auction because Huawei had sued the auction conditions. According to the rules set by the PTS, licensees must undertake not to use any network components from Chinese suppliers Huawei and ZTE during the 5G expansion and to retire their hardware in existing networks up to 2025 . Huawei considers these requirements to be unfounded and anti-competitive.

In response to a complaint by Huawei, the Stockholm Administrative Court had temporarily invalidated its exclusion from the auction. As a result, PTS canceled the auction. The Kammarrätt, as the next higher appeal body of the Swedish administrative judiciary, overturned this decision in December. In view of the general importance of 5G, the execution of the auction under the mentioned conditions should be rated higher than Huawei’s interests, the court had found.

Administrative court clears the way Last week the highest administrative court finally rejected Huawei’s renewed appeal. This cleared the way for the auction. The decisions of the appeal bodies are not about the fundamental legality of the conditions, but only on the question of whether the clauses relating to Huawei should continue to be declared invalid for reasons of legal protection and whether the auction can take place.

“It is regrettable that PTS has decided to proceed with the auction,” said a statement from the company, which had previously offered the Swedish government to meet even the most extreme conditions if that can allay the safety concerns. The company cites “serious violations of Huawei’s rights and interests” by the PTS’s decision. “There are still legal proceedings pending, so there is great uncertainty as to how this will turn out.” There are currently at least two trials pending in the Swedish courts.

Proceedings continue The question of whether Huawei’s exclusion by means of the license conditions is legal, remains the subject of ongoing proceedings before the Stockholm Administrative Court. Contrary to the argument of the Swedish authorities that Huawei, as a non-participant in the auction, could not sue the conditions either, two courts had admitted the suit. “We are currently counting on a first instance judgment in the main proceedings in the spring,” said a Huawei spokesman to heise online.

The Swedish network operator Tre (“3”) also had a lawsuit against the PTS in November and the expulsion filed by Huawei. The company, which belongs to the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Group (“Three”), has acquired sufficient spectrum as the main shareholder in Hi3G Access, but under the given conditions cannot expand its networks with Huawei technology as planned. In Stockholm, the network operator has sued for unlawful interference in business operations.

Previously, Huawei’s largest competitor, Ericsson, had also spoken out against being excluded from Huawei. “I think it is important that we have open markets and free competition,” said Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm in November. According to media reports, Ekholm recently spoke out directly to Trade Minister Anna Hallberg against a Huawei ban, stressing that Sweden is not a good location for Ericsson.

The background is fears that Huawei could be excluded result in a similar measure by the Chinese. That could mean exclusion from the lucrative Chinese market for European suppliers. “China represents eight percent of our sales,” said Ekholm. “It is of strategic importance for us to be present in China.” In the Middle Kingdom over 700. 5G base stations set up, 2021 should it again 600. 000.

Security concerns of the governments Against the background of the economic war between the USA and China as well as previously unproven allegations of espionage against Chinese companies, equipment manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE in the development of the security-critical 5G infrastructure are also in Europe controversial. While the EU Commission and the Federal Government are taking a comparatively moderate course, Sweden, Italy and Great Britain have also decided to exclude the Chinese providers in whole or in part from setting up the 5G infrastructure.

The Federal Government wants to set the hurdles for the exclusion of a single supplier from network expansion comparatively high. The corresponding procedure is described in the revisions of the IT Security Act and the Telecommunications Act, which the cabinet initiated in December. The federal government should be able to prohibit the use of “critical components” under certain conditions. Equipment for critical infrastructures must be certified by the BSI, the provider must submit a declaration of trustworthiness.

(vbr)