France won't ban Huawei, but encouraging 5G telcos to avoid it: Report

The US government has urged its allies to exclude the Chinese telecoms giant from the West's next-generation communications, saying Beijing could use it for spying. Huawei has denied the charges.

The head of the French cybersecurity agency ANSSI said there would not be a total ban on using equipment from Huawei in the rollout of the French 5G telecoms network, but that it was pushing French telcos to avoid switching to the Chinese company.

"What I can say is that there won't be a total ban," Guillaume Poupard told Les Echos newspaper in an interview. "(But) for operators that are not currently using Huawei, we are inciting them not to go for it."

The US government has urged its allies to exclude the Chinese telecoms giant from the West's next-generation communications, saying Beijing could use it for spying. Huawei has denied the charges.

Sources told Reuters in March France would not ban Huawei but would seek to keep it out of the core mobile network, which carries higher surveillance risks because it processes sensitive information such as customers' personal data.

France's decision over Huawei's equipment is crucial for two of the country's four telecoms operators, Bouygues Telecom and SFR, as about half of their current mobile network is made by the Chinese group.

"For those that are already using Huawei, we are delivering authorisations for durations that vary between three and eight years," Poupard said in the interview.

State-controlled Orange has already chosen Huawei's European rivals Nokia and Ericsson.

Poupard said that from next week, operators which have not received an explicit authorisation to use Huawei equipment for the 5G network can consider a non-response after the legal deadline as a rejection of their requests.

PM Modi holds marathon talks with Prez Macron to boost strategic relations

The one-on-one interaction was followed by the delegation-level talks.

Business Standard : Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday held marathon one-on-one meeting during which they reviewed the entire gamut of the dynamic and multi-faceted relationship to further boost the strategic partnership.

Ahead of the meeting, Modi said the talks will add to the ground covered during previous interactions with the French leadership.

The two leaders held "more than 90-minute long one-on-one meeting reviewing the entire gamut of our dynamic & multifaceted relationship," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

"Our strategic partnership is a very important pillar of our foreign policy," he added.

The one-on-one interaction was followed by the delegation-level talks.

In his departure statement, the prime minister had said his visit to France reflects the strong strategic partnership which the two countries deeply value and share.

"India and France have excellent bilateral ties, which are reinforced by a shared vision to cooperate for further enhancing peace and prosperity for our two countries and the world at large," the prime minister said.

He said the strong strategic and economic partnership is complemented by a shared perspective on major global concerns such as terrorism and climate change.

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"I am confident that this visit will further promote our long-standing and valued friendship with France for mutual prosperity, peace and progress," Modi said.

Ahead of the meeting at Chateau de Chantilly, one of the finest jewels of French cultural heritage, located about 50 kms north of Paris, Macron explained the historic significance of the chateau to Modi and took him around the centuries-old building.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi was accorded a red carpet welcome at the airport where he was received by Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.

"India and France enjoy extremely friendly ties and have been working together bilaterally and multilaterally for years," Modi tweeted soon after his arrival.

Nokia to cut jobs in multiple countries after Alcatel-Lucent deal, 5G shift

However, the company denied that the cuts would be related to the slower than expected launch of 5G technology.

Finnish telecommunication giant Nokia on Tuesday announced its plans to cut jobs, media reported.

Nokia gave 350 as a layoff target in Finland, and said the figures in France and Germany would be higher, but did not specify.

However, the company denied that the cuts would be related to the slower than expected launch of 5G technology, Xinhua news agency reported.

Instead, the aim is to make operations more efficient as the consolidation after the purchase of the French Alcatel-Lucent has been completed.

Tommi Uitto, director in charge of Nokia's operations in Finland, said the changes are "necessary". The cutbacks are part of 700-million-euro (about $798.7 million) savings announced in October 2018. Thereafter Marc Rouanne, one of the key directors, left the company.

In France, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) accused Nokia on Tuesday of attempting to improve profitability through shifting work to countries where labour costs are lower than in France.

Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat quoted the union as saying that Nokia has broken its 2016 promise to the then finance minister Emmanuel Macron that staff size at Alcatel-Lucent and Bell Labs would remain at 4,200 for two years.

CGT claimed that Nokia had also broken its pledge to employ 2,500 new staffers in research and development. Helsingin Sanomat economics writer Petri Sajari said the French unions could turn the Nokia cutbacks against President Macron.

Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, Nokia currently employs 100,000 people worldwide, 6,000 of them in Finland.

Business Standard