Nokia and Ericsson won big 5G orders!

Orange has chosen vendors Nokia and Ericsson to deploy its 5G network in its home market of France as Huawei continues to face scrutiny over the security of its equipment in Europe.

In a statement, Orange explained that after several months of testing, they have selected the supplier, with both parties contracted to provide a package of products and services to support 5G deployment in France.

The partnership with Nokia is focused on the western and southeastern regions of France, with the company already providing 2G, 3G and 4G in France's mobile RAN.

Ericsson will deploy the equipment in the Ile-de-France region, in the northeast and southwest, where it already exists.

Orange France CEO Fabienne Dulac said the deployment of 5G "represents a huge challenge and is one of our main priorities in our strategic plan for Engagement 2025".

The company is expected to launch commercial 5G services in France this year once French regulators hold a spectrum auction scheduled for March.

Orange's decision comes in a week when Huawei is under the spotlight for its 5G work in continental Europe.

Britain has banned Huawei from core parts of its 5G networks but will allow the Chinese vendor to have minority stakes of up to 35% in access parts of the infrastructure.

Subsequently, the European Commission issued a series of guidelines to member states on the security of 5G networks, stating that it does not recommend banning any company from participating in the construction of 5G networks. Although Huawei was not mentioned at the press conference, the spokesperson also emphasized that when involving certain suppliers, stricter rules must be met.

Huawei responded to this, welcoming the EU's decision to allow Huawei to continue to participate in Europe's 5G deployment. "This fact-based, unbiased approach to 5G security will help Europe build a safer and faster 5G network."

On February 1, the United States issued a statement saying that EU member states have taken strong security measures to completely exclude high-risk suppliers such as Huawei from the EU's 5G network construction.

However, EU industry chiefs responded to US pressure by saying they welcome US comments on the EU's decision not to issue a blanket ban on Huawei and there is no sign that the EU's position will change.