The French Constitutional Council on Friday (Feb. 5) approved France’s “anti-huawei” law, which will force telecoms operators SFR and Bouygues Telecom, which protested against the bill, to remove the antennas of Huawei 5G mobile networks already installed in the future.
According to AFP, the French Constitutional Council believes that the legislature wants to protect mobile networks “from the risk of espionage, piracy and sabotage that may arise from the new features offered by fifth-generation mobile communications” in order to “safeguard national defense and national interests and security”. The purpose of the project is to “safeguard national defense and national interests and security. The Constitutional Council added in a press release that “these provisions implement the inherent constitutional requirement to protect the fundamental interests of the nation.”
Nearly half of SFR and and Bouygues Telecom cell phone networks use Huawei equipment, and they previously raised questions with the French Constitutional Council about restrictions on Huawei equipment in the French 5G market.
While France has not yet explicitly banned the use of Huawei equipment in future mobile network deployments, the French National Agency for Cybersecurity (Anssi) has been imposing strict restrictions on its operating licenses since the end of August, according to the August 1, 2019, law.
Bouygues Telecom said it will not be allowed to remove some 3,000 Huawei antennas deployed in densely populated areas until 2028, while cities including Strasbourg, Toulouse and Rennes have banned the installation of Huawei antennas. The French government already said early last September that unlike other countries, France has no plans to pay financial compensation to telecom operators for these decisions.
Huawei is one of the world leaders in 5G technology, but has been accused by the United States of possibly spying for Beijing. Huawei has consistently denied the allegations, stressing that it has never had a security issue in its 30 years of existence, while also counter-accusing the U.S. of aiming to eliminate a strong competitor.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump did press European allies on the use of Huawei equipment during his presidency.
The UK and Sweden were the first to explicitly exclude Huawei from the 5G network construction system equipment almost wholesale in mid-July and late October last year, respectively.
Huawei continues to invest in factories and research centers in France
But these bans have also failed to influence Huawei’s decision to set up a factory related to 5G technology near the eastern French town of Strasbourg, the first Huawei 5G equipment manufacturing facility outside of China.
The plant is expected to be completed within 2023 and could become Huawei’s first stronghold on the European turf of its main rivals, Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia, according to AFP.
Huawei, which entered France in 2003, has recently announced plans to make several investments in the country, including a research center in Paris last October, showing all signs of its determination to make a long-lasting presence in France.
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