Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Finland approves 'no Huawei' law; Iskratel brews up 10G broadband in Belgium; Ofcom says public service broadcasting needs to adapt to survive.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

December 8, 2020

3 Min Read
Eurobites: Huawei says it will bend over backwards for Sweden

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: Finland approves "no Huawei" law; Iskratel brews up 10G broadband in Belgium; Ofcom says public service broadcasting needs to adapt to survive.

  • Huawei says it's "willing to meet extraordinary requirements" laid down by the Swedish government to convince the skeptics and get a toehold on the country's 5G network rollout. According to a Reuters report, the Chinese "Billy no mates" vendor would be prepared to set up test facilities in Sweden for its equipment, if that was a route the Swedish authorities wanted to go down. In October, Sweden's telecom regulator, PTS, banned Huawei and smaller Chinese rival ZTE from taking part in 5G auctions, but that ruling is subject to an appeal. (See No Huawei for bidders in Sweden's 5G auctions, Ericsson CEO takes Sweden to task over Huawei ban and Eurobites: Swedish court allows Huawei back in the 5G game.)

    • Meanwhile, The Economic Times reports that Sweden's neighbor, Finland, has gone ahead as expected and approved a law that effectively bars Huawei and ZTE from its networks going forward on security grounds. The law didn't name any particular companies or countries, but said that a ban would be enforceable when the powers-that-be have "serious grounds for suspecting that the use of the device endangers national security or national defense." (See Eurobites: Finland prepares to make life easier for Nokia.)

    • Slovenia-based Iskratel has joined forces with Belgian service provider Ulysse Group to deliver 10Gbit/s fiber broadband to the city of Liège. Iskratel will be supplying various XGS-PON goodies, including optical line terminals and customer premises equipment.

    • Still in Belgium, Orange Business Services has landed a contract with the country's Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs to overhaul the organization's network, security and application infrastructure across 118 locations in 87 countries. The agreement includes an annual innovation fund of €800,000 (US$969,000) for projects intended to help the Belgian Ministry stay at the forefront of technology development. Orange's Flexible SD-WAN offering will form part of the picture.

    • And yet more Belgium… Proximus is tooting its own trumpet on the progress to date of its fiber rollout, which is underway in 16 Belgian cities. More than 400,000 homes and businesses can already be connected to the fiber network, says the operator. Proximus is now hoping to connect the entire Brussels-Capital region to fiber before the end of 2026, creating around 600 new jobs there.

    • A new review from UK communications regulator Ofcom concludes that traditional public service broadcasting in the UK is unlikely to survive in the increasingly online world unless broadcasting laws and regulation are overhauled. According to Ofcom, the rules governing public service broadcasting largely date from when the Internet was still in its infancy, and they need to be radically changed to support the traditional broadcasters' shift into the online world. A consultation on proposals presented in the review, "Small Screen: Big Debate," will run until March 16.

    • Nokia, BT, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and Vodafone have all scored more environmental brownie points with their inclusion on the "A List" of CDP's latest sustainability rankings, which aim to foster greater corporate transparency on environmental matters.

      — Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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