China's telecom giant Huawei displays 5G technology at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. (Xinhua/Guo Qiuda)

 
Norway's largest mobile operator Telenor has said it would continue working with Chinese company Huawei for its fifth-generation (5G) telecoms network, while adding Sweden's Ericsson as its new supplier.

Telenor's top management told a press conference on Friday that the company's network is to modernize in the next four or five years, and Huawei will be involved the entire process.

Sigve Brekke, chairman and CEO of Telenor Group, said during the press conference that "we have been very pleased with the cooperation with Huawei."

"In order to ensure that our customers in the transition phase continue to receive a world-class mobile network, Telenor will use equipment from current supplier, Huawei, in the radio network to maintain the 4G network as well as to upgrade 5G coverage in certain locations in Norway," said Anders Krokan, communications director of Telenor Norway.

Telenor announced Ericsson as its new 5G supplier. The reason for the cooperation with both Huawei and Ericsson is a growing customer appetite for data capacity, according to online newspaper E24.

The company must modernize Norway's entire network in four or five years, including an upgrade to 5G, said the newspaper.

During the press conference, Telenor management was asked to confirm if they will install Huawei 5G equipment in the Norwegian network.

"To meet customer needs, the answer is yes. Given that this process takes four to five years, we need to make sure all our customers have a good experience," said Petter-Borre Furberg, CEO of Telenor Norway.

"Specifically, we have demanded that suppliers from countries with whom we do not cooperate in security policy cannot account for more than 50 percent of the base stations," the country's Digitization Minister Nikolai Astrup told E24.

"If companies choose suppliers from countries we do not have security policy cooperation with, the requirement was that two or more suppliers had to be selected," he noted.

Telenor has been working with Huawei for 10 years. Currently, the Telenor Group is testing 5G in 10 locations in Norway as well as selected areas in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Thailand and Malaysia.