Huawei plans to challenge Estonia 5G ban in court

Tech giant Huawei says it will challenge a ban on its equipment in Estonia.

Huawei says the ban, drafted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in July, conflicts with EU law in discriminating on the basis of origin.

The economics affairs ministry's draft would prohibit what it calls high-risk tech by 2030, with the infrastructure and software used in the 5G network required to be risk-free by 20204.

This would include from manufacturers located outside the EU and also NATO and OECD member states – Huawei is a Chinese firm – within Estonian communications networks.

Huawei says it is is preparing legal arguments to challenge the regulation, and plans to announce its plans in the coming days.

According to the regulation, high-risk technology must disappear by 2030. The hardware and software used to build a 5G network should be risk-free by 2024.

The entry into force of the restrictions is also a precondition for moving forward with the 5G frequency licensing competition, IT minister Raul Siem (EKRE) announced in June.

In late 2019, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Center) met with US Vice President Mike Pence, with the pair agreeing on a joint Estonian-U.S. approach to 5G and its security, which should essentially exclude China's Huawei.

Huawei had face criticism for various aspects of its operations, especially U.S. allegations of its products containing backdoors for Chinese government espionage. The U.S. has imposed business restrictions on Huawei's activities there.