Shares of Nokia Corporation (EPA: NOKIA) rose over 3% today after Orange Belgium chose the company to renew its radio gear networks and roll out 5G.
Fundamental analysis: Nokia to replace Huawei
According to Reuters, Orange and its local competitor Proximus have agreed to start replacing Huawei’s mobile gear in Belgium and Luxembourg with Nokia’s equipment.
The United States and the UK have banned Huawei 5G equipment from their countries for security reasons and the US has been urging its allies to follow suit. Huawei and China denied the spying accusations.
Orange Belgium said it will start rolling out its 5G gear by connecting its existing core network supplied by Ericsson and commence preparations for a new, independent 5G network. Proximus has also picked Ericsson to renew its core infrastructure in Belgium with 5G gear.
The EU’s executive body and parliament are based in Brussels, an area that’s especially important to U.S. intelligence agencies.
“This is the outcome of a tender organised by operators and the result of the free market,” a Huawei spokesman commented.
“We embrace fair competition, the more diversified a supply chain the more competitive it becomes,” the spokesman said, and added that Huawei has been providing cellular network equipment to Belgium for over a decade without lowering its commitment.
EU member states have turned their attention towards the so-called high-risk suppliers, placing Huawei’s governance and technology under inspection and other European operators are likely to follow footsteps of the US and the UK and eliminate Huawei’s gear from their networks, analysts said.
Nordic companies Nokia and Ericsson have benefited the most from Huawei’s recent downfalls. The two companies have been gaining market share as mobile
