The Court of Appeal revoked the suspension of the restrictions for the next auction, but Huawei’s appeal can still go ahead.
Huawei’s appeal pushed the auction back: In October 2020, the Swedish regulator, the PTS placed a restriction on Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE ahead of the auction of spectrum in the 2.3GHz and 3.5GHz bands. The auction was due to start on 10 November 2020, but the Administrative Court of Stockholm suspended the restriction and led the PTS to delay the auction.
A decision in the national interest: On 16 December 2020, the Court of Appeal revoked the suspension, arguing that the interests to develop 5G in the country outweighs Huawei’s interests, and that there is no reason to suspend the restriction.
Huawei’s appeal continues: The decision does not stop Huawei’s appeal in the Administrative Court of Stockholm, however, the PTS can now carry out the auction without waiting for the appeal’s outcome. In a statement, the regulator announced that it will look to do so ‘in the near future’, although it ruled out a start in December 2020.
