The Swedish government’s ban on using the equipment of Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei and ZTE to build a 5G network on its territory turned out to be a failure for the kingdom itself, giving China an unexpected ally. The Chinese companies were defended by their competitor in the Swedish market – the local manufacturer Ericsson reports edition Dagens Nyheter.
The Swedish Ericsson, along with the Finnish Nokia, was supposed to become the main beneficiary of the restrictions on Huawei, which were introduced by the Post and Telecommunications Agency (PTS). However, the head of Ericsson, Borje Ekholm, in January 2021, appealed to the country’s foreign trade minister Anna Hallberg with a demand to help lift the ban. Otherwise, not only Huawei, but also Ericsson may leave Sweden, the top manager hinted.
A spokesman for Ekholm confirmed to Bloomberg that he spoke with Hallberg. The minister, for her part, stressed that she did not meet with the top manager and did not have any contacts with PTS. Hallberg added that she would never use her position to influence the decision of an individual department.
PTS imposed a ban on Huawei and ZTE equipment in October 2020. The reason was Huawei’s close ties with the Chinese military and fears that the company might share the data collected on the kingdom’s territory with the Chinese government. China then threatened to respond to Stockholm’s actions, complicating the position of Swedish companies in its market. About 10 percent of Ericsson’s telecommunications equipment sales come from China. In addition, the company is heavily dependent on Chinese subcontractors. Ericsson employs 13,000 people in Sweden.