Meo sues Portuguese state for €81.7 million over Huawei 5G exclusion

Telecoms operator Meo is suing the Portuguese state for €81.7 million in compensation following the exclusion of Huawei equipment from Portugal's 5G networks, the newspaper Público reported on Monday.

The outlet cites filings on the Citius portal relating to proceedings brought against the Public Prosecutor's Office and the State's Legal Centre, lodged on 24 April with the Lisbon Administrative Court.

Meo, part of the Altice Portugal portfolio, argues it has been harmed by "administrative decisions" of the Security Assessment Commission, which operates under the Higher Council for Cyberspace Security.

The company says it has suffered "special and abnormal damage" as a result.

At issue is a resolution adopted by the commission in the first half of 2023, which flagged the "high risk" of using equipment from suppliers based outside the EU, NATO or OECD for national 5G network security — as first reported by the Lusa news agency.

The resolution applied where the legal framework of the supplier's home country allowed its government to exercise "control, interference or pressure" over the company's activities abroad.

The resolution made no direct reference to any country or company, but Huawei was its principal target — both in Portugal and across other European countries where similar exclusions followed.

According to business daily ECO, Huawei technology had been widely used by Meo in building its 5G network, and the decision forced the company to overhaul that part of its operations.

Huawei itself had already filed administrative proceedings against the resolution with the Lisbon Administrative Court in September 2023. Nine months later, a Security Assessment Commission spokesperson told Lusa the case was following "its judicial course".

The decision has drawn criticism from across Portugal's telecoms sector. In November 2023, Vodafone Portugal chief executive Luís Lopes told Expresso the commission's move was more "aggressive" than measures applied elsewhere in the EU and therefore "not particularly well judged".

NOS chief executive Miguel Almeida echoed that view at the 33rd Digital Business Congress of APDC in May 2024, saying the resolution "goes far beyond what has been the practice in Europe, in terms of the range of network components covered."