France has partially authorised the use of some Huawei’s gear in the rollout of its 5G network, media reports said. The decision is despite the fact that the US urged to exclude the Chinese telecom giant from countries’ next-generation telecommunications.
The French cybersecurity agency ANSSI approved the use of Huawei’s equipment in non-core parts of the country’s 5G network as the potential for security risks will be quite low.
Core parts of the network are more prone to security risks as they comprise sophisticated software programmes processing highly sensitive information such as customers’ personal information.
But state-owned telecom giant Orange has chosen Nokia and Ericsson to be a part of its 5G roll out. Both Nokia and Ericsson have been preferred by the US over Huawei.
France has followed Britain’s move in the partial authorisation of using Huawei’s equipment in its 5G rollout. The country is anticipated to follow instructions given by the European Union’s industry chief Thierry Breton, media reports said.
Last month, Huawei announced that it plans to build a factory in France to produce 4G and 5G wireless equipment. The reason the Chinese giant chose France is because of its strategic geographical location, industrial infrastructure and labour pool on the continent.
Despite the US’ skepticism, Huawei has said that it would not share sensitive information with Beijing. The company said in a statement “This manufacturing plant will add to Huawei’s integrated value chain within Europe, improving the timeliness and reliability of Huawei’s deliveries to European customers.”