The European Commission is reportedly planning to impose a ban on Huawei and ZTE mobile networking equipment across EU member states. The new report comes following comments from VP Henna Virkkunen urging all EU member states to enforce the Commission’s 2020 toolbox for 5G security and “stop using high-risk vendors in mobile networks”.
The security of our 5G networks is crucial for our economy. The Commission urges member states that have not yet implemented the 5G Toolbox to also adopt relevant measures to effectively and quickly address the risk. A lack of swift action exposes the EU as a whole to a clear risk. – Thomas Regnier, EU Commission spokesperson
Each EU member state is currently free to take its own decisions regarding telecom infrastructure. Still, a swift new directive from the Commission could enforce a bloc-wide ban on 5G networking equipment from vendors like Huawei and ZTE.
Germany, Finland, and Sweden have already complied with the restrictions on Chinese network equipment, while other EU members like Spain and Greece continue to allow Huawei and ZTE network equipment in their local networks.
Source (paywall)
