China Tightens Grip on Telecoms: Nokia and Ericsson Under Scrutiny

China is intensifying its scrutiny of European telecom equipment providers, with Nokia and Ericsson being subjected to stringent national security evaluations. These measures are reportedly designed to ensure the integrity and transparency of foreign telecom components in Chinese networks.

Contracts from Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia now need approval from the Cyberspace Administration of China through 'black box' reviews, where the companies are not informed of the assessment criteria. This added layer of bureaucracy requires bidders to furnish comprehensive documentation of their systems, detailing each component and specifying the local content share.

While Ericsson has not provided any comments in response to the report, Nokia has also remained silent. The Cyberspace Administration of China was unreachable for comments. The lack of transparency in these proceedings has raised concerns among international telecom companies and stakeholders.

(With inputs from agencies.)