The chief executive of Ericsson has warned that the focus on questions surrounding Chinese telecoms company Huawei risks Europe falling further behind on building 5G networks but that regulation and high investment costs are bigger stumbling blocks.
The Swedish company and its Nordic rival Nokia are seen as a potential beneficiaries if European governments ban Huawei equipment from 5G projects after the US filed charges of corporate theft and violating Iran sanctions against the telecoms equipment maker.
However, Börje Ekholm, chief executive of Ericsson, argued that instead the Huawei tensions had caused paralysis among European operators. “Right now we are at risk of focusing on only one question. All our customers are trying to work out what this means and that is causing uncertainty.”