According to Reuters on Tuesday, a minister from the center-right government of Portugal stated that the ban on using Chinese equipment in the country’s 5G network will be maintained. This stance is considered the most stringent in Europe and is expected to incur high costs.
The new government of Portugal took office in April this year.
In May 2023, during the previous Socialist government’s term, the Portuguese National Cybersecurity Committee (CSSC) prohibited Chinese equipment from entering the high-speed 5G mobile network and the 4G platform based on new technologies.
The CSSC is the advisory body to the Prime Minister, and this move has thwarted the efforts of Chinese tech giant Huawei to enter the Portuguese 5G market and potentially extend existing contracts.
Minister of Infrastructure Miguel Pinto Luz told broadcaster NOW on Monday evening, “Some policies must have continuity, and security is one of them.”
Europe and the United States are both concerned that Chinese involvement in critical infrastructure construction may pose security risks, despite the Chinese government and Huawei rejecting this view. In September, Huawei filed a lawsuit in a court in Lisbon against the CSSC’s decision.
Pinto Luz stated that the working group supporting the CSSC’s position emphasized the need to ensure that the telecom system is “less susceptible” to potential threats.
He acknowledged that Portugal’s stance is stricter than some European countries and aligns more with the United States’ position. He added, “The world has changed… the economic and geopolitical war between the two poles is intensifying.”
Portugal’s major telecom operators Altice, NOS, and Vodafone have already stated that they will not only refrain from using Huawei’s technology in the 5G core network but will also remove Huawei equipment from all infrastructure.
A research report released by Ernst & Young (EY) for Huawei estimated that excluding Chinese technology could cause Portugal economic losses of over €1 billion (US$1.1 billion), including a replacement cost of €339 million.
Pinto Luz downplayed this claim, stating that each operator will have a “very broad time window” to replace equipment.