China “very concerned” about discrimination against Telenor’s Huawei rejection

China fears Chinese companies will be discriminated against in Norway after Huawei lost the battle to deliver 5G equipment to Telenor, E24 writes.

Since 2018, Telenor has carried out a number of pilot projects with 5G in Norway. On Friday, it became clear that Ericsson will deliver Telenor’s 5G equipment, and the same company will also build Telia’s 5G network.

Norwegian authorities have made demands on telecom operators that they must choose more than one supplier if they choose 5G suppliers from countries Norway does not have a security agreement with. Norway and China do not have such cooperation, which means that Huawei will not be allowed to compete on the same terms as Swedish Ericsson and Finnish Nokia.

– China is very concerned about whether the decision-making process has been influenced by factors that are not market-controlled or technical, whether the process has been fair, or whether Chinese companies are being discriminated against in Norway, a spokesperson at the Chinese Embassy in Oslo wrote in an email to E24.

– “Telenor has chosen a 5G provider based on a comprehensive assessment of, among other things, technical quality, ability to innovate and modernize the mobile network, commercial conditions and risk,” says Anders Krokan, communications director Anders Krokan.

In May, Huawei was blacklisted by US authorities, who believe the Chinese company poses a security risk. Australia and New Zealand have also banned Huawei from 5G development, while the UK is less restrictive. Germany may also exclude the Chinese company.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today