Court proceedings against ban on Huawei begin in Stockholm

STOCKHOLM, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Administrative Court in Stockholm on Wednesday started proceedings to decide whether the authority's restriction on China's telecom company Huawei in the Swedish 5G auction was lawful.

The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) announced on Oct. 20, 2020 that products from Huawei would not be allowed in the future Swedish 5G networks. Huawei has lodged an appeal against the ban which actually excludes the company from the Swedish mobile systems market for the next 25 years.

"The 5G trial is about the credibility of the Swedish legal system and economy," Kenneth Fredriksen, Huawei's executive vice president for Central East Europe and Nordic Region, said Wednesday in a company press release.

"Should an individual authority be allowed to exclude companies from the market based on general and unprecise allegations, and without the company being given a chance to respond?" Fredriksen asked.

"This case is of principle importance for Swedish legal security. It is required by law that the company receives all information related to the case and is allowed to comment before the authority makes a decision that has impact on the company," said Henrik Bengtsson, representative for Huawei at law firm Delphi, in the press release.

"Huawei is clearly affected by PTS's decision and PTS has not followed the process required by law. Furthermore, PTS's far-reaching ban is clearly disproportionate," said Bengtsson.

Huawei listed several main points in the company's factual presentation in the court on Wednesday, saying that PTS's actions are a violation of Swedish administrative law, and the conditions imposed by PTS are disproportionate and not compatible with Swedish law.

According to Huawei, the equipment that PTS has banned is completely legal in the European Union and has also long been used in the Swedish networks, without any objections by PTS.

Citing national security reasons, PTS also banned the use of components of another Chinese company ZTE. Both companies have rejected such accusations, saying that they have been, for years, strictly observed local laws and contributed to the construction of local infrastructure.

The court proceedings are scheduled to last until Friday.