Huawei says it welcomes EU guidelines on 5G security

BRUSSELS: Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei on Wednesday welcomed the European Union’s 5G guidelines that are likely to limit its business in Europe, but which fall short of a U.S. call for a total ban.

“This non-biased and fact-based approach towards 5G security allows Europe to have a more secure and faster 5G network,” Huawei said in a statement.

The EU sees 5G as key to boosting economic growth and competing with the United States and China. Huawei, the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, competes with Sweden’s Ericsson and Finland’s Nokia.

The non-binding recommendations, agreed by the bloc’s 28 countries, seek to tackle cybersecurity risks at national and EU level, with concerns mainly focused on Huawei, although the guidelines do not identify any particular country or company.

The guidelines call on EU countries to assess the risk profile of suppliers on a national or EU level and allow them to exclude high risk suppliers for the core infrastructure, confirming a Reuters report on Jan. 22.

EU governments are also advised to use several 5G providers rather than depend on one company. The providers should be assessed on technical and non-technical factors including the risk of interference by state-backed companies.

The Commission said it was ready to bolster the bloc’s 5G cybersecurity by using trade defence tools against dumping or foreign subsidies.

EU countries have until April to implement the guidelines by April and report on their progress by June.

The United States wants the bloc to ban Huawei on fears that its gear could be used by China for spying, allegations rejected by the company.

The EU, however, is hoping a collective approach based on a checklist of technical and non-technical risks and targeted measures will take some of the U.S. pressure off.

Britain on Tuesday opted to allow Huawei to supply equipment for non-sensitive parts of its 5G network rather than bow to U.S. pressure and ban the company completely.