Although the French government has repeatedly said that it will not “fully” ban huawei in its territory, the French National Information Systems Security Agency (Anssi) has explicitly told telecom operators planning to buy Huawei 5G equipment, once it expires, operators will not be able to renew the license for the equipment, which has already worked with Huawei to lay half of the network two major. Telecom operators (SFR and Bouygues) therefore appealed to the Constitutional Council, which on February 5 declared the “anti-Huawei law” in force on the grounds of safeguarding national defense interests and national security.
The French Constitutional Council approved the French “anti-Huawei law” on February 5, forcing two major telecom operators (SFR and Bouygues) to remove the antennas of Huawei 5G mobile networks already installed.
The Constitutional Council noted that “by adopting this law, lawmakers took into account the objective of safeguarding national defense interests and national security by protecting mobile radio networks from the risk of new espionage, piracy and sabotage that could arise from the new features offered by fifth-generation mobile communications, in line with the fundamental constitutional requirement to protect national interests.”
Currently, France has not explicitly banned the use of Huawei equipment in future mobile network deployments, but under the August 1, 2019 law, the French National Agency for Information Systems Security (Anssi) has severely restricted the issuance of operating licenses starting in late August 2020.
France’s National Information Systems Security Agency (Anssi) informed telecom operators planning to purchase Huawei 5G equipment last July that the temporary licenses offered range from three to five years, and once they expire, operators will not be able to renew their licenses for that equipment, effectively eliminating Huawei from the French mobile network.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has made it clear that the French government will not impose a total ban on Huawei within its borders, but that the French will protect sensitive areas such as its own strategy and national security. We will not ban Huawei’s investment in 5G, and there will be no discrimination against any operator in France,” he said. But we will protect our national security interests and sensitive areas.”
The two major telecom operators, which have already laid half of their networks with Huawei, have repeatedly said that the situation could force them to replace their equipment at a high cost, when they would demand compensation from the state, in the face of the restrictions imposed by the authorities on Huawei in the French market, and therefore the companies have raised the issue of constitutionality priority, to which the Constitutional Council’s resolution responds.
According to the rules, Bouygues (Bouygues Telecom) to remove about 3,000 Huawei antennas deployed in densely populated areas by 2028, and prohibit the use of Huawei equipment for 5G layout in cities such as Strasbourg, Brest, Toulouse and Rennes.
The French government had indicated in September 2020 that it did not intend to pay operators for losses caused by the removal of Huawei’s equipment.
Huawei has been accused by the U.S. of allegedly spying for Beijing, and although Huawei has denied the allegations, some European countries have raised the alarm about Huawei’s 5G use, with the U.K. and Sweden both having made clear in 2020 respectively that they would completely rule out the use of Huawei’s 5G network construction systems.
On January 26, Huawei announced that it would invest 200 million euros to build a factory in eastern France to produce wireless network equipment.
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