Huawei'S Legal Weapon Defends Effective: Swedish Court Stops "Huawei 5G Restriction Clause" 5G Spectrum Auction Postpones

On November 10, the 5g spectrum auction originally planned by Sweden was changed.

According to CCTV news, on November 9, local time, Swedish TV reported that Stockholm administrative court issued a temporary injunction to stop Sweden's post and Telecommunications Authority (PTS) from restricting Huawei's additional terms in the 5g spectrum auction on October 20.

The administrative court said Huawei had the right to appeal the decision because of the impact on Huawei's rights and interests. The administrative court further pointed out that due to the unclear outcome of the case, it decided to issue a temporary injunction to suspend the application of the Huawei part of the spectrum auction decision.

On October 20, Sweden's post and Telecommunications Authority (PTS) announced the 5g spectrum auction conditions, saying that telecom operators could not use Huawei's products. Huawei appealed against PTS's decision on November 6, including applying for a temporary injunction.

This is undoubtedly another ban on Huawei and other Chinese communication equipment manufacturers. In the overseas 5g market, Huawei is still faced with many variables. According to the information announced by the Swedish post and Telecommunications Authority on the same day, the four telecom operators participating in the auction are not allowed to install Huawei or ZTE telecom equipment in the new network. If the 5g equipment of Huawei or ZTE is included in the existing network, it must be removed before January 1, 2025. According to the Swedish post and Telecommunications Bureau, this is a demand made by the Swedish Armed Forces and security services on the grounds of "ensuring national security".

In this regard, Huawei launched a counterattack, filed a lawsuit, and played a legal game again. Huawei appealed the administrative decision of Sweden's post and Telecommunications Authority (PTS) on November 5 against the administrative decision passed by the Swedish post and Telecommunications Authority (PTS) on October 20, asking the Stockholm administrative court to issue a temporary injunction, immediately stop the implementation of the administrative decision, and withdraw the restrictive requirements on Huawei in the decision, according to a statement sent by Huawei to the 21st century economic report.

"The administrative decision of the Swedish post and Telecommunications Authority (PTS) violates the legal procedural requirements, does not fully inquire and solicit opinions, does not provide any facts, evidence and legal reasons, and lacks neutrality, independence and objectivity," Huawei said

At the same time, Huawei once again said that Huawei is a global private enterprise, committed to becoming a contributor to Sweden's ICT industry. "In the past 20 years of operation in Sweden, we have never had any major network security incidents. We have not, are not, and will not pose any threat to Sweden's cyber security. We understand the Swedish government's concerns about cyber security and welcome any non discriminatory, unbiased, fact based cyber security requirements, clear and verifiable technical standards and open and transparent procedures. Based on this, Huawei is willing to fully cooperate with operators and PTs to meet its 5g infrastructure security requirements. "

In addition, Huawei also said: "we believe that the court will hear cases fairly and fairly, protect and respect Huawei's legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time, protect and respect the rights and interests of Sweden's ICT industry and consumers."

Previously, Huawei has used the law to fight back against the ban. In March 2019, Huawei held a press conference in Shenzhen, announcing that it would file a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court, requesting that the provisions in the defense authorization act of the fiscal year 2019 restricting U.S. government agencies from purchasing equipment and services from Huawei are unconstitutional. However, in February this year, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas failed to support Huawei's claim, allowing the U.S. government not to purchase specified Huawei products and services as originally planned.

However, it is worth noting that the Stockholm administrative court announced a temporary injunction order on the 9th, but it has not yet made a judgment on Huawei's substantive statement.

Meanwhile, the Swedish post and Telecommunications Authority announced on the 9th that the spectrum auction originally held on the 10th will be postponed, and the ruling of the administrative court will be analyzed to examine the possibility of auction as soon as possible.

There are also many variables. Under the influence of the US ban, whether the European market can be in business is still a test.

From the perspective of industry chain companies, several Swedish telecom companies have cooperated with Huawei in their 4G and 5g networks. If Huawei equipment is not used, it may bring huge additional costs and cause significant delay in 5g deployment.

Some people in the industry believe that if Sweden does not lift the 5g ban against Huawei and ZTE, Ericsson, headquartered in Sweden, may also lose its Chinese market. In the third quarter of this year, the Chinese market contributed about 10% of Ericsson's revenue. Ericsson CEO B ü RJE ekholm said at the financial report meeting that whether Ericsson's business in China would be limited is still speculation that geopolitical issues should be decided by the government itself. Ericsson hopes to continue cooperation and competition with Huawei and other manufacturers. The Chinese government has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the Swedish government's restrictions on Chinese enterprises' participation in market competition. At a regular press conference of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 21, Zhao Lijian, spokesman of the Ministry of foreign affairs, said that China's market remains open to European enterprises, including Sweden. In the absence of any evidence, the Swiss side, on the pretext of national security, shamelessly discredited Chinese companies, overtly suppressed Chinese telecom enterprises and politicized normal economic cooperation. This practice is contrary to Sweden's practice The principle of free, open, fair and non discriminatory market economy also violates the rules of international trade and investment. "The Swiss side should uphold an objective and fair attitude, correct the wrong decisions, and avoid negative impacts on China Switzerland economic and trade cooperation and the operation of Swiss enterprises in China." Zhao Lijian said.

According to the data of Tuo Industrial Research Institute of trendforce, in 2019, Chinese and European equipment manufacturers accounted for 85% of the world's 5g base stations, and Ericsson of Sweden, Huawei of China and Nokia of Finland were the three major suppliers. However, Huawei was affected by the Sino US trade war and the Huawei ban offered by the US side, forcing it to obtain the key components supplied by large manufacturers of RF front-end components in the United States, thus limiting the export of its base stations. Therefore, it is estimated that Huawei's base station equipment construction this year will be dominated by the Chinese market. It is estimated that Huawei will account for 28.5% of the global base station market in 2020, followed by Ericsson, accounting for 26.5% 。