A1 Telekom Austria Group, an unit of Carlos Slim’s America Movil, was open to considering Chinese vendors such as Huawei and ZTE for upcoming 5G networks in several countries, a top executive said.

European governments have been tightening controls on Chinese companies building 5G networks following diplomatic pressure from the United States, but Telekom Austria has not seen any pressure in most of the European countries it operates in.

“For us, it is very important to have markets where we have Chinese vendors to test the performance of the different networks in real time,” said chief operating officer Alejandro Plater.

Not only is Chinese technology cheaper, but it offers features that are better than their European counterpart, making it competitive, he said.

A1 Telekom Austria Group’s parent company, America Movil, called Shenzhen-based Huawei an excellent telecom equipment provider last year.

Telekom Austria has 25 million customers across Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Belarus, Slovenia, Republic of Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia.

It already uses radio access networks from Chinese vendors in Bulgaria and North Macedonia for 4G networks, and equipment from European vendors like Ericsson and Nokia in countries such as Austria.

“We need several options, we cannot have only two,” Plater said.

But North Macedonia has tightened its rules on telecom networks, with a framework on 5G networks that calls on operators to gradually replace “untrusted” vendors.

“As a NATO member, North Macedonia will adjust to standards of other member states of the alliance with these regards,” a North Macedonian government representative said.

A Swedish court Tuesday upheld a ban against Huawei selling 5G equipment in the country, dashing the Chinese company’s hopes of staging a comeback in Europe.

(SD-Agencies)