France to launch 5G on schedule despite Huawei woes

Underling that the US-Huawei row will have "a limited impact", French telecom regulator ARCEP on Tuesday said that France is planning to launch its commercial 5G network as scheduled in 2020, despite the issues faced by Huawei following recent action by the US against the Chinese firm.

The head of ARCEP, Sebastian Soriano, has suggested that telecom companies can always switch to any other suppliers if Huawei is facing trouble, reported Sputnik.

Soriano indicated that France has not completely ruled out using Huawei equipment.

This development comes as the US is making efforts to completely cut off Huawei's products from the international market, alleging it of stealing data.

Days after signing an executive order barring US firms from buying Huawei's equipment, the United States on Monday announced temporary ease of restrictions to American companies using the Chinese tech giant's products.

This is not the first time that France has defied US' suggestions.

Last month the European nation had opposed the European Union (EU) trade negotiations with the United States as it was no more a signatory of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

"We defend exemplary Europe for the climate [policy]. France opposes launching trade negotiations with the US that is not a member of the Paris Agreement," French President Emmanuel Macron had tweeted.