* 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 Vodafone)
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 the country's
high-speed 5G network.
The United States has piled pressure on its allies,
including Hungary, 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. Huawei has denied the accusations.
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 build-up
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.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government has
forged closer ties with China in government finance, banking and
infrastructure, including a flagship high-speed railway project
under Beijing's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
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 had not yet published new dates.
"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, which launched a commercial 5G
service in central Budapest last month on a spectrum acquired in
2016, declined to comment on the current tender, but confirmed
that regulator had suspended the process.
Hungary had planned to wrap up the 5G tenders by October.
The regulator could not comment immediately on the
reasons for the delay.
During 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)
