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Following the Post and Telecommunications Agency’s decision to exclude Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE from Sweden’s 5g expansion, Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm has expressed caution about the Swedish media. However, according to text messages Dagens Nyheter received, the CEO of the telecoms giant has strongly opposed the decision, indicating that Ericsson could leave Sweden if the government does not intervene.
Rikard Rosell
Ericsson
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Today’s development
has everything 10 percent of China’s 5g market and also depends on its suppliers. In the media, Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm has kept a low profile on the issue since the decision and has chosen to refrain from commenting on the policy behind it.
But according to text messages Dagens Nyheter has read, the CEO, since the decision was made, has run an advocacy campaign against the Swedish government and Trade Minister Anna Hallberg (S) to get the government to step in and change the decision.
In the text message conversation between Börje Ekholm and Trade Minister Anna Hallberg, Ericsson’s boss demands that the government act. It is also suggested that Ericsson, with 13,000 employees and headquartered in Sweden, can leave the country if the decision is not changed.
“Hello Anna, I appreciate the work you do, but as it seems now, Sweden is a really bad country for Ericsson,” he writes, among other things.
In a text message, Anna Hallberg writes to Börje Ekholm that she “really tries” to do what she can, but tells Dagens nyheter that she has not tried in any way to influence PTS in accordance with Börje Ekholm’s demands. The trade minister also says that she currently has no concerns about Ericsson leaving Sweden.
It was October 20 as the Swedish Post and Telecommunications Agency, PTS, announced the conditions to participate in the auction on two central frequencies in Sweden’s 5g expansion. The news that shook the telecommunications industry meant that Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE were completely banned from supplying any equipment to operators seeking to participate in the auction. In the decision, which sharpened the tone against Chinese companies, PTS also demanded from the consulting authority Säpo’s request that operators disconnect all existing Huawei equipment that is connected to the new network.
According to Säpo, the Communist Party of China controls the property of Huawei’s union, which is also subject to a law that requires cooperation with the Chinese military. Säpo chief Klas Friberg said China is “one of the biggest threats to Sweden.” In an interview with Di, he stated that “China is a country that uses cyber on a daily basis to spy on Swedish companies and authorities” and that Säpo was “very confident” in assessing that the Chinese Communist Party controls property. Huawei’s union.
The decision drew strong reactions from China. In a comment to TT on October 31, China’s Swedish Ambassador stated that the decision will have far-reaching consequences for Swedish Ericsson’s activities in China.
The decision has from previously also criticized by Ericsson’s vice president, Jacob Wallenberg. In an interview with Dagens Nyheter in December, he pointed to the risk of negative effects for Ericsson from the decision. He also said the long-term decision could lead to Asia developing its own mobile standard, something that would slow down the global cooperation that has characterized the telecommunications industry.
Jacob Wallenberg is through Investor Ericsson’s largest owner. The investor owns 7.7 percent of the capital in Ericsson and 22.8 percent of the votes. Jacob Wallenberg also has a private stake in Ericsson worth just over SEK 40 million, according to owner Holdings data service.
