China tightens scrutiny of Nokia and Ericsson telecom equipment
China is moving to restrict the use of European telecom suppliers Nokia and Ericsson in its networks, according to the Financial Times. Contracts with the Finnish and Swedish firms must now undergo opaque “black box” national security reviews by the Cyberspace Administration of China, with the companies given no visibility on how their gear is assessed.
The report said state-linked buyers of telecoms kit will also require bidders to submit detailed documentation covering every component in their systems and the proportion of locally sourced content. The measures are seen as further tightening the operating environment for Western technology firms in China’s critical infrastructure sector.