Portugal plans to ban Huawei from 5G networks

Onur Demirkol
May 29, 2023
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Portugal is getting ready to ban Huawei from 5G networks within the country's borders. The decision was made due to security concerns, as Huawei is believed to pose a "high risk" to the safety of the nation.

According to a government announcement published online on Thursday, the nation will forbid the use of equipment in its 5G wireless network from manufacturers based outside the European Union or from nations that are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Higher Council for Cyberspace Security's security assessment committee said that businesses from outside certain jurisdictions pose a "high risk" to the safety of national networks. As a result of that decision, Chinese providers of goods and services—including Huawei, which had previously collaborated with some Portuguese telecom companies to build their 5G networks, have been excluded.

“Huawei has no prior knowledge of and hasn’t been consulted about this matter. Over the past two decades, Huawei has worked with Portuguese carriers to build out wireless networks and provide quality services that connect millions of people. We will continue to comply with all applicable laws and regulations and serve Portuguese customers and partners who rely on our products and services," a Huawei spokesperson told the Financial Times.

If the Portuguese government moves forward with the ban, it will follow Canada and a small number of other European nations that have recently banned the Chinese corporation from taking part in their 5G networks, including Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

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Huawei

Huawei is already banned in certain countries

The United States banned Huawei products in the country, and it is one of the most strict nations against Huawei. According to Ren Zhengfei, the company's founder, Huawei had to replace 13,000 parts in its products as a result of the U.S. trade sanctions. Even with the penalties, Huawei continues to employ outdated components in some of its new devices while concentrating more on vertical integration.

Recently, Seagate had to pay a fee for shipping products to Huawei. For delivering hard disk drives worth more than $1.1 billion, Seagate had agreed to pay a $300 million fine to U.S. authorities. The United States export control regulations forbidding the shipment of goods to Huawei were broken by Seagate.

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Comments

  1. Anonymous said on June 2, 2023 at 1:50 am
    Reply

    The main demonstrated cybersecurity threat state actor is well known and it’s the US state. Obviously for worldwide mass surveillance of ordinary citizens but even for hostile surveillance of allied states in military alliances. Contrary to Huawei which apparently they were amazingly unable to expose as guilty of anything towards them (seriously ?), although lots of easy to debunk lies were spread. It’s clearly more about economic competition. In fact, I think that they actually underestimate the security threat.

  2. John G. said on May 29, 2023 at 10:19 pm
    Reply

    Good job Portugal! Where is the EU when you need it? :]

    1. D. Yajaira said on May 30, 2023 at 8:51 am
      Reply

      The UE is sitting on Uncle Sam’s knees.

  3. Alyssandra B. said on May 29, 2023 at 9:20 pm
    Reply

    For those who are interested in the risks Huawei poses, read this:

    BBC: “Huawei – leaked report shows no evidence of spying”
    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19988919

    Reuters: “Britain managing Huawei risks, has no evidence of spying”
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-huawei-europe-britain-idUSKCN1Q91PM

    The Print: There’s no proof to show Huawei was spying in Europe, France says”
    https://theprint.in/world/theres-no-proof-to-show-huawei-was-spying-in-europe-france-says/357011/

    Or listen to the statement from former UK Govt. Minister Vince Cable:
    https://twitter.com/BarrettYouTube/status/1481444585461411840

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