A decision by the Portuguese government is currently effectively banning local telcos from implement 5G gear from Chinese vendor Huawei
The Portuguese unit of Chinese vendor Huawei has filed a lawsuit against a previous decision made by the country’s security assessment commission, which effectively bars Portuguese telcos from using Huawei’s 5G gear, according to local press reports.
The legal claim was filed with the Administrative Court in Lisbon and aims to challenge a previous decision published by the security body in May 2023, alongside related documents covering 5G equipment.
The Chinese vendor noted that the lawsuit seeks to protect “legitimate interests and legal rights under the law as a company duly established in Portugal” adding it expected it will “remedy the multiple violations of Huawei Portugal’s rights”.
The vendor also noted it was confident the Portuguese court would conduct “scrutiny based on the highest standards of the law and address the multiple legal concerns raised in our application.”
Portugal’s cybersecurity council, CSSC, had issued a resolution that could oblige local telecom operators to avoid using equipment from Chinese vendors in their 5G mobile networks.
The resolution paves the way for a 5G ban for vendors from “high-risk” countries and jurisdictions from supplying equipment for 5G networks.
The resolution by the CSSC would prohibit the use of equipment in 5G wireless network from suppliers based outside the European Union or from states that don’t belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to a government statement.
Under a law approved in August 2022, the government of Portugal can determine “the exclusion, restrictions on use or the cessation of use of equipment or services” of telecom companies, setting conditions and deadlines for carriers to comply.
In the resolution, the CSSC did not specifically mention China or Chinese vendors but warned of a high risk to security from suppliers or providers that “are headquartered in a country where the government exercises control, interference or pressure on its activities in third countries.”
Several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan, have already effectively banned Huawei from their 5G networks or imposed restrictions.
A number of European countries including Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have recently banned Chinese vendors from participating in their 5G networks. Germany recently said it was currently reviewing the use of Chinese components in its 5G networks.
