The French Constitutional Council announced the entry into force of the “anti-huawei” law on Feb. 5.
(AFP)
The French Constitutional Council announced on Feb. 5 that an “anti-Huawei” law will come into force, requiring two major telecom operators, SFR and Bouygues Telecom, to remove antennas installed on Huawei’s 5G mobile network.
France has not yet explicitly banned the use of Huawei equipment in future mobile network deployments, but its operating licenses have been severely restricted by the French National Agency for Cybersecurity (Anssi) since the end of August last year, according to the August 1, 2019, law.
Operator Bouygues Telecom said it would remove about 3,000 Huawei antennas deployed in densely populated areas by 2028, while the installation of Huawei antennas has been banned in some cities such as Strasbourg, Toulouse and Rennes.
The French government made it clear in September last year that it does not plan to pay financial compensation to telecom operators for the decision to remove Huawei antennas.
Huawei has been accused by the U.S. of spying for Beijing, and although it has denied the allegations, some European countries have been wary of Huawei’s 5G use, with the U.K. and Sweden each making clear last year that they would rule out the use of Huawei’s 5G network construction systems.
France has continued to invest in Huawei’s expansion in France despite the strengthening of its restrictive conditions. on January 26, Huawei announced that it will invest 200 million euros to build a factory in eastern France to produce wireless network equipment, which is expected to go into production in 2023. After the news broke, French media commented that Huawei, a Chinese company under U.S. sanctions, was able to build a factory in France using “money diplomacy”.
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