Since the introduction of anti-Huawei measures provided for by the 2020 national security law, Bouygues Telecom and SFR must finance the dismantling of the Chinese manufacturer’s 5G antennas present in France. The two operators have decided to take legal action to be compensated by the State.
Our colleagues from the Informed we learn this Wednesday, April 5 that Bouygues and SFR have seized the administrative court of Paris in order to to obtain compensation from the State. The two operators consider that they do not have to financially ensure the dismantling in France of thousands of Huawei antennas.
Remember, in 2019, many countries decide to take action against Huawei. The Chinese manufacturer is particularly suspected by the Trump administration and by several Western countries spying for Beijing.
Huawei network antennas must disappear
The Shenzhen firm is blacklisted in the United States and de facto loses the right to collaborate with American companies. This is how Huawei was deprived of its license to use Android and Google services.
In France, the country was preparing to launch a vast project to develop the hexagonal 5G network. To preserve “the interests of defense and national security”, the authorities have introduced a new law aimed at drastically reducing the number of Huawei network infrastructures in the territory.
Thus, operators such as Bouygues and SFR have been forced to dismantle all Huawei telecom antennas by 2028. The two operators quickly challenged this measure by filing QPC (priority questions of constitutionality) with the Constitutional Council and by seizing the Council of State. However, this request was rejected by the sages.
An operation valued at several hundred million euros
According to Bouygues, the cost of the operation is substantial: 82 million euros according to its first estimates. And again, this amount will cover the replacement of a hundred antennas already installed… In total, the subsidiary of the construction group will have to remove no less than 3,000 antennas by 2028. This number rises to 8,000 for SFR! In other words, the envelope required by the two operators could well reach hundreds of millions of euros.
To seek compensation, Bouygues Telecom and SFR rely on a decision of the Council of State dated 2019. Indeed, if the Constitutional Council had rejected their request, the Supreme Court had shown itself in favor of compensation by the State. Be careful however, the game is far from won: the two operators will have to make reimbursement requests for each site… What announce a long, very long, legal battle.
