The Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden, yesterday dismissed an appeal filed by Chinese tech company Huawei against its exclusion from the country’s 5G network rollout. The ruling has thus removed all barriers to the planned 5G spectrum auction scheduled for next week.
Huawei had filed an appeal earlier this month against a decision by the lower court, the Administrative Court of Appeal that allowed the country’s telecoms regulator PTS to resume 5G spectrum auctions without removing a previous ban on Huawei.
The court’s statement, in dismissing Huawei’s appeal, further pointed out that its ruling is final and therefore cannot be appealed.
Huawei said it was still awaiting decisions on two other appeals it filed in November last year in relation to what it felt was an unjustifiable ban by PTS. Huawei had claimed that there would be serious consequences if PTS went ahead to hold the 5G auction while PTS conditions are subject to legal review.
Huawei, I’m a statement on Friday said it had hoped that the Supreme Court would take a broader approach to the issue of law and consider the appeal on other grounds put forward by Huawei.
Sweden had said in October 2020 that it would ban Huawei and Chinese rival ZTE from its 5G rollout due to security concerns and risks. It gave companies taking part in 5G auctions until January 1, 2025, to remove both Huawei and ZTE”s gear from existing infrastructure and core functions.
Earlier last month, an Appeals Court had backed an appeal by PTS against a ruling by a lower court to stop the 5G auctions, but also said Huawei could pursue a legal challenge over its exclusion. PTS then said that it would resume the 5G spectrum auction on January 19. They have now reaffirmed that the auction will start as planned on Tuesday 19 January.
UP NEXT: [UPDATED] Indian company starts making Smart TVs for realme, OnePlus, Infinix and TCL: Report
