Court dismisses Huawei appeal over 5G network exclusion in Sweden

A Swedish court on Friday dismissed an appeal by Huawei complaining about its exclusion from the country’s 5G network rollout.

Huawei filed the appeal against a court decision that allowed Swedish telecoms regulator PTS to resume 5G spectrum auctions without removing a ban on Huawei earlier in January.

According to Reuters, a Swedish court in December backed an appeal by PTS against a ruling to stop the auctions, but also said Huawei could pursue a legal challenge over its exclusion.

Recent reports claimed that the head of Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson, Börje Ekholm, was ratcheting up pressure on the government to reconsider its decision to ban China’s Huawei from taking part in the rollout of 5G networks.

According to a report in Sweden’s TheLocal, The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority announced it was excluding Huawei and ZTE, both from China, from its 5G frequency auction in late October, citing security concerns.

The decision came after the government received pressure from the US to exclude Huawei from its 5G network construction.

“I hope there will be no impact,” Börje Ekholm told daily Dagens Nyheter in an interview, adding that he is worried about Chinese reprisals, TheLocal reported.

“China accounts for eight percent of our revenue. For us it has been a strategically important issue to be present in China,” Ekholm added.

Ericsson fears reprisals from China if Sweden goes ahead with the ban.