The company’s opco says it “seeks protection of its legitimate interests and legal rights under the law as a company duly established in Portugal”
Reuters reports Huawei has filed a lawsuit with a Lisbon court in a bid to overturn the findings of report that would exclude it from Portugal’s mobile network infrastructure. The report was published in May by Portugal’s Safety Assessment Commission, with the backing of the country’s Higher Council for Cyberspace Security.
Huawei has enjoyed considerable success in Portugal for 20 years and expected this to continue: Altice Portugal is the largest mobile operator and signed an agreement with Huawei in 2018 pledging to deploy its technology in 5G infrastructure.
The Financial Times [subscription needed] went to far as to say that having languished in economic doldrums for some years, Portugal flourished as economic links between itself and China grew over the past decade.
Report’s recommendations
However, the report recommended that companies based outside the European Union and that do not belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) or the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) should not be allowed to supply kit for Portugal’s mobile networks as they are potential are a risk to national security.
Neither Huawei nor fellow Chinese equipment provider ZTE are named.
Reuters quoted a spokesperson from Huawei saying, “Huawei Portugal seeks protection of its legitimate interests and legal rights under the law as a company duly established in Portugal,” to “remedy the multiple violations” of its rights.