ecta, the European Competitive Telecommunications Association, issued a call denouncing any bans of Chinese 5G suppliers for geopolitical reasons. It says the 5G Toolbox provides a suitable EU framework for responding to security issues affecting the networks of the future while respecting European and national sovereignty.
“A reduction in the number of worldwide suppliers from 5 to 3 will not only impact the telecoms sector by increasing costs, negatively impacting performance, delaying the deployment of 5G networks and constraining innovation potential. It will also have important wider socio-economic consequences such as reducing the capacity of enterprises, public institutions, civil society and individual end-users to offer new digital services and successfully drive growth and recovery—a capacity on which EU policy makers have rightly placed much emphasis for securing our future welfare.”