Free challenges Bouygues, Altice’s Huawei 5G equipment permits in court

French operator Free Mobile has reportedly filed a case at the Paris Administrative Court against permits given to Bouygues Telecom and Altice France (SFR) to use Huawei 5G antennas, French newspaper L’Express writes. Free claimed that its own request to the Agence nationale de la securite des systemes d’information (Anssi) for clearance to use Huawei products was rejected, but Bouygues Telecom and SFR have been given the greenlight, which it argued gave its two rivals an unfair advantage. Orange was also prohibited from using Huawei equipment, the newspaper added.

Bouygues Telecom revealed in 2020 that it planned to replace 3,000 Huawei antennas in its network over the next eight years, a move deemed as a response to attempts by the government to phase out the Chinese vendor’s kit. However, L’Express writes that Bouygues Telecom is pushing ahead with deploying antennas from the vendor for its next generation services. All four operators previously launched an action against the state over the imposition of security restrictions, but have failed in their attempts to get the laws lifted. CommsUpdate