EU to ban Huawei, ZTE from internal commission networks

THE European Commission is planning to ban equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei Technologies and ZTE from its own internal telecommunications networks, people familiar with the matter said.

The ban comes ahead of an anticipated update to the European Union’s (EU) guidance on 5G mobile networks within the bloc that’s expected to more forcefully encourage members to phase out equipment from the companies, which it considers high risk, the people said, asking not to be identified because the plan isn’t yet public.

As the relationship between the US and its allies and China has deteriorated, countries have blocked Chinese technology from their core telecommunications networks because of spying concerns. The move is similar to the commission’s decision to block its staff from using TikTok over security concerns related to the social-media app’s data-collection practices.

In the EU’s review of the 5G “toolbox,” the commission will say that publicly excluding Huawei and ZTE from national networks is justified and will explicitly call out Huawei and ZTE as high-risk vendors by name for the first time. The majority of countries have yet to ban the two Chinese vendors from their networks.

Representatives for Huawei and ZTE didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. BLOOMBERG