Huawei sends envoy in Romania to address possible ban in 5G licence auction

Radoslaw Kedzia, Huawei vice-president for the Central and Eastern European region, arrived in Romania in an attempt to discuss with high state officials about a potential ban against the Chinese company in the auction for 5G frequency bands. He received no answer yet from the Romanian officials, Wall-street.ro reported.

The visit comes after the ambassadors of Romania and the United States have signed in August a Memorandum for the development of secure 5G networks that includes a set of criteria for selecting the companies allowed to develop 5G projects.

The use of Huawei networking equipment is banned in the US. President Donald Trump initiated the Huawei ban in May with an executive order directing his administration to restrict the purchase and installation of critical communications equipment from “foreign adversaries.”

The Romanian Government has not inked the criteria for the 5G auctions yet and the market regulator ANCOM has not launched the auction. Prime minister Viorica Dancila is on a visit in the United States this week when she will most likely touch energy and 5G topics.

In this context, Radoslaw Kedzia advocated to the Romanian media in favour of Huawei as a legitimate bidder in the coming 5G auctions. He said that he was surprised about “Romania accepting as valid the vague and unfair accusations expressed by the US” and even warned about lawsuits against the country’s authorities in case of a ban.

In the event that the Government decides to restrict Huawei's ability to operate in Romania, the group does not exclude sending the Government to court, as it would violate multiple international treaties, the Huawei vice-president stated. “But we do not believe that this will happen, as there are intelligent people in the Romanian Government,” he added.

He also stressed Huawei is an important foreign investor in Romania. "Yes, we will meet with Romanian officials, we do not hide anything and we would like to meet them to clarify certain situations, and to receive advice and guidance, if necessary. We consider that we are a powerful company in Romania. We have decided to have several regional centers, including in Romania, we pay taxes of hundreds of millions of euros annually, being an important contributor in Romania,” Kedzia told the local media.

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