Brazil, Finland Could Exclude Huawei from 5G Network Development

Following US sanctions against Huawei in September and the recent UK bans against installation of Huawei equipment in the country’s 5G network development, a few other countries including Sweden, Finland and Brazil have revealed their stance on the Chinese tech giant’s involvement in their infrastructure construction. 

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s government is trying to exclude Huawei’s telecom equipments from 5G networks in Brazil through legal options, according to a Reuters report. 

As an ally of American President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro followed his enmity towards Huawei on the unproven grounds that it shares confidential data with the Chinese government. But the Brazilian president is also faced with industry resistance with China being Brazil’s largest trade partner. 

In Scandinavia, Sweden’s telecoms regulator PTS in October banned the use of Huawei and ZTE devices by telecoms operators taking part in 5G auctions. Its neighbor Finland also passed a law on Monday that allows governments to ban the use of telecom network devices when they have “serious grounds for suspecting that the use of the device endangers national security or national defense.”

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Although the legislation does not mention ZTE or Huawei directly, nor does it state that it will ban any vendor by its country of origin, it is likely that Huawei and ZTE will be covered under devices that “endanger national security or national defense.” The nordic country is also home to Nokia, one of Chinese telecom companies’ biggest rivals who has made a profit following bans worldwide against Huawei equipment. 

“We aren’t pointing fingers at any one party,” Finnish MP Johannes Koskinen said to Bloomberg News. “We should ensure we don’t take action that closes doors for Nokia as a result of any backlash.”