Huawei takes Sweden to court over 5G ban

STOCKHOLM • Huawei said it has initiated arbitration proceedings against Sweden under the World Bank Group after the Nordic country banned the Chinese tech giant from rolling out its 5G products.

"The Swedish authorities' decision to discriminate against Huawei and exclude it from the 5G roll-out has significantly harmed Huawei's investment in Sweden, in breach of Sweden's international obligations," the Chinese company said in a statement to AFP on Sunday.

The company has therefore "initiated arbitration proceedings" under the World Bank Group's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes against Sweden "following a number of measures taken by the Swedish authorities targeting directly Huawei's investments in Sweden and excluding Huawei from the roll-out of 5G network products and services in the country".

Huawei did not specify what damages it was seeking, but according to public broadcaster SVT, the initial sum sought was 5.2 billion Swedish kroner (S$750 million), although it could end up being much higher.

After Britain in mid-2020, Sweden is the second country in Europe and the first in the European Union to explicitly ban its network operators from using Huawei equipment in the build-up of the infrastructure needed to run its 5G network.

Sweden also ordered Huawei to remove already installed equipment by Jan 1, 2025. After an appeal from Huawei, a Swedish court confirmed the decision by Sweden's Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) in June last year.

The decision strained relations between Sweden and China, with Beijing at the time warning that PTS' decision could have "consequences" for the Scandinavian country's companies in China, prompting Swedish telecom giant and Huawei competitor Ericsson to fear retaliation.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE