Estonia’s parliament The Rigiikogu has approved new legislation that effectively bans the country’s operators from using network equipment from China’s Huawei.
The ban comes as part of an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act which must now receive approval from the country’s President Alar Karis. According the CommsUpdate, the amendments are aimed at bringing Estonian legislation in line with EU standards.
ERR News reports that the proposals also seek to enshrine consumer rights across traditional phone services as well as OTT services such as WhatsApp and Viber. Presidential approval of the amendments would finally clear the way for Estonia to hold its long-delayed 5G spectrum auctions.
Citing concerns over security, several European countries have banned network operators from using Chinese suppliers – including Huawei and ZTE - for their 5G network equipment. Huawei has consistently defended itself against such allegations, stating that it would refuse to compromise a client’s security even if requested by the Chinese government.
