FILE PHOTO: The Ericsson logo is seen at the Ericsson’s headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden June 14, 2018. Picture taken June 14, 2018. REUTERS/Olof Swahnberg/File Photo
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Ericsson says current 5G network security discussions is leading to worry among its customers, but the mobile network equipment maker has still not seen an increase in contracts due to that, its top chief said on Wednesday.
The company counts Chinese market leader Huawei and Finland’s Nokia as its main rivals and some analysts think it could benefit from Western suspicions of Huawei, after Washington alleged its gear could be used by Beijing for spying.
Huawei has strongly rejected the allegations and launched a lawsuit against the U.S. government.
“What we see is that customers are worried,” Chief Executive Borje Ekholm told reporters ahead of the firm’s annual general meeting at a venue close to its north Stockholm headquarters.
“And that of course leads to more discussions with customers for us, but we can’t see that contracts are being allocated. That has not happened yet.”
Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom and Helena Soderpalm