* Huawei to participate in high-speed network build-up
-minister
* Huawei just one of suppliers tested - Deutsche Telekom
unit
* Washington has piled pressure on allies to shut out Huawei
(Adds response from Magyar Telekom, detail)
BUDAPEST, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Hungary's foreign minister
opened the way on Tuesday for Chinese telecoms giant Huawei
to be involved in the rollout of its high-speed 5G
network.
The United States has piled pressure on its allies to shut
out Huawei Technologies, the leading telecoms equipment vendor
with a global market share of 28%, saying its gear contained
"back doors" that would enable China to spy on other countries.
Hungary has said however it had no evidence that Huawei
equipment would pose a security threat and Foreign
Minister Peter Szijjarto announced at an event in China on
Tuesday that Hungary would involve Huawei in the 5G rollout.
Szijjarto said Huawei would cooperate with Vodafone
and Deutsche Telekom in the Hungarian 5G rollout
according to an emailed Foreign Ministry statement.
Deutsche Telekom's Hungarian unit said Huawei was
just one of the suppliers tested for the 5G technology.
Hungary published the draft documentation for the sale of
more than 400 megahertz of 5G spectrum in June, aiming for a
commercial start of the service at main industrial facilities
next year.
Magyar Telekom said Hungarian telecoms regulator
NMHH had registered it as a participant in the 5G tender. It
added however that the regulator had scrapped the previously
announced bidding dates and has not published new dates yet.
"Magyar Telekom is currently testing 5G technology with
several suppliers, including Huawei's Hungarian unit," the
company's press office said in an emailed response to questions.
"However, it has not entered into an agreement with Huawei
to build up its entire Hungarian 5G network."
Vodafone's Hungarian unit and the Hungarian telecoms
regulator could not comment immediately. Hungary had planned to
wrap up the 5G tenders by October.
At a visit to Budapest in February, U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo cautioned allies against deploying equipment from
the Chinese company, saying it would make it more difficult for
Washington to "partner alongside them".
Hungary's Szijjarto then brushed off U.S. concerns over
Russia and China, saying Budapest was fulfilling its obligations
to Western allies as a member of the NATO military alliance.
The European Union, of which Hungary is a member, has warned
of the risk of increased cyber attacks by state-backed entities
but refrained from singling out China and Huawei as threats.
Hungarian Innovation and Technology Minister Laszlo
Palkovics told Reuters in June that Budapest was studying the
example of Germany, its biggest foreign investor, where he said
an assessment system was developed to precisely identify
possible security threats.
German regulation had initially not excluded Huawei from the
build-out of 5G mobile networks. However, Foreign
Minister Heiko Maas on Monday cast doubt on whether the company
could participate in the development and construction of the
country's fifth-generation data network.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Krisztina Than;
Editing by Alison Williams)
Vodafone (VOD)
