Belgium Selects Nokia, Drops Huawei for 5G Network Contracts

The companies did not disclose a value for the contracts. Nokia shares were up nearly 3 percent in early trading.

Orange Belgium and Proximus said Ericsson would supply the core of their 5G networks, a smaller slice of the business.

EU members have been stepping up scrutiny of so-called high-risk vendors.

This subjects Huawei's governance and technology to critical examination and is likely to lead other European operators to strip it from their networks, analysts say.

Nokia and Ericsson have been the main beneficiaries of the challenges facing Huawei. From Bell Canada and Telus Corp in Canada to BT in Britain, the Nordic companies have been grabbing market share from the Chinese firm.

Separately, Nokia said it had won a contract to provide data management software to Telefonica UK, replacing an unidentified existing vendor.

(Writers: Supantha Mukherjee, Mathieu Rosemain | Editors: Jason Neely, Mark Potter)

Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-orange-nokia-security-5g/huawei-ousted-from-heart-of-eu-as-nokia-wins-belgian-5g-contracts-idUSKBN26U0YY