Battle with Huawei ends for Sweden, and 5G spectrum auctions are all set to start

Recently it was announced that PTS, a telecom regulator from Sweden, has started auctions of 5G spectrum, which was delayed till now due to a court battle. The lawsuit was with Huawei, and it was due to the company being banned from accessing the next-gen networks. Various companies like Net4Mobility, Hi3G Access, Teracom, and Telia Sverige have received approval for 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum auctions. The auctions' bidders are mostly joint ventures or units of telecom operators like Telenor, Tre, Tele 2, and Telia. The reasons for the delay in auctions were for Huawei's lawsuit and security review.

The main reason for banning Huawei was due to national security risks, and Britain too has banned the company citing the same reason. Initially, PTS has given the companies participating in the auction time till 2025 to remove ZTE and Huawei equipment from the existing core functions and infrastructures. The decision was made after receiving judgments from Sweden's security services and armed forces. However, Huawei has stated that it will meet all the government requirements and take care of concerns in regards to its 5G equipment. It must be noted that there are two more appeals remaining in court in regards to PTS's ban.