FX.co ★ French Constitutional Council backs limits on Huawei 5G equipment

Huawei’s mobile antennas will be dismantled in France following a decision by the French Constitutional Council to remove 5G telecom equipment made by the Chinese company.

This decision caused some discontent among French telecommunications firms SFR and Bouygues Telecom. They tried to challenge these measures, but their efforts were unsuccessful. As a result, they will have to remove Huawei antennas.

According to Constitutional Council's representatives, the court backed the law with the aim of protecting the interests of national defence and security from the risks of espionage, piracy, and sabotage. Experts do not exclude such frauds amid the introduction of new functions used in the fifth-generation wireless technology.

Notably, the French authorities do not ban China's Huawei from investing in the country, but they carefully monitor the use of its telecoms equipment. In late August 2020, the national cybersecurity agency told telecoms operators planning to buy Huawei 5G equipment that it would not renew licenses for the gear after its expiry.

Earlier, the management of Bouygues Telecom said that by 2028 the company would remove 3,000 Huawei-made mobile antennas from highly-populated areas, in particular Strasbourg, Toulouse, and Rennes. These territories are the strategic objects of France.