By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic
PARIS: French authorities have told telecom operators planning to purchase Huawei 5G equipment that they will not be able to renew licenses for the equipment once they expire, thus phasing out the Chinese company from mobile networks, said three sources familiar with the matter.
Like other countries in Europe, France is laying the groundwork for its next-generation 5G mobile market amid a growing geopolitical storm between two global superpowers.
The United States says the company’s equipment could be used by the Chinese government for espionage – a charge denied by Huawei and Beijing – and has pressed its allies to ban it.
French cybersecurity agency ANSSI said this month it would allow operators to use equipment, including those from Huawei, under three to eight year licenses. But he added that he was urging telecom operators not currently using the Chinese company’s equipment to avoid switching to it.
Operators each have to apply for dozens of licenses for equipment covering different parts of the country.
The sources said ANSSI informed operators of most licensing decisions for large cities. They said most of the approvals for Huawei equipment were for three or five years, while most of those for equipment from European rivals Ericsson or Nokia had eight-year licenses.
ANSSI’s decisions have not been made public either by the agency or by the companies.
The sources added that the French authorities had also told operators in informal conversations in recent months, not formally stated in the documents, that the licenses granted for Huawei equipment would not be renewed thereafter.
ANSSI declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office, which oversees authorizations on 5G equipment, said ANSSI was working with operators within the legal framework, adding that any authorization granted so far does not preclude knowing whether these authorizations would subsequently be renewed or interrupted.
Huawei declined to comment.
Such restrictions, however, would amount to a de facto elimination of Huawei from French 5G networks by 2028, given the short time frame of the licenses, according to the sources, who declined to be named due to sensitivity. of the question. .
French operators may still be successful in securing an eight-year license for Huawei equipment in some cases, and may still decide to use its equipment during that time, the sources said. But even that ultimately meant dismantling it, they added.
One of the sources said it would be difficult for a telecom operator to take the risk of investing in Huawei equipment, given that new mobile technology like 5G takes at least eight years to generate a return on investment. “Granting three years is a categorical refusal,” the person added.
‘SIMILAR TO BRITTANY’
An effective ban would be particularly troublesome for Bouygues Telecom and SFR of Altice Europe, the two French telecom operators who already use Huawei equipment in their current mobile network.
The new authorizations for 5G network equipment are tied to existing 4G equipment, which means that if an operator chooses a different provider for 5G, they will also have to replace their existing 4G infrastructure.
Companies have already said several times this year that such a scenario, in which they could be forced to replace part of their network at a high cost, would lead them to demand compensation from the state.
Bouygues and Altice declined to say whether they had requested Huawei licenses or licensing decisions or whether they had had informal conversations with ANSSI. They also declined to say whether they would drop any plans to purchase Huawei equipment from now on.
The other two large French operators, the leaders Orange and Iliad, rely mainly on Nokia, Ericsson or both for their mobile networks.
Iliad and Orange declined to comment.
In Britain, where major telecom groups rely heavily on Huawei technology, the government has ordered the Chinese company’s equipment to be purged from the 5G network by 2027.
“France’s position is similar to Britain’s, but government communication is different,” one of the sources said. “Huawei can’t do much about this. “
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