Red.es has launched the gradual technological transition of RedIRIS, a calm metamorphosis whose objective is to stop depending on Huawei equipment but without neglecting the current maintenance of those on which the network depends. The organization has put out to tender two contracts for a combined amount of 10.3 million euros in which Huawei is present as the manufacturer of the infrastructure currently in production, expressly requiring in the specifications that the assigned technicians have qualifications and specialized knowledge in the Chinese brand's equipment to operate and maintain the system in service.
The first of them was approved on August 6, 2026 (file 008/26-RI), with a base budget of 6 million euros for monitoring, operation and advanced technical support for 40 months, according to the documentation to which EL PAÍS/Cinco Días has had access. Previously, on July 30, 2026, it awarded another contract (file 032/25-RI) to Telefónica for 4,296,663 euros for the maintenance of layer 2 and 3 equipment of RedIRIS for 38 months. Both contracts guarantee the operational continuity of the academic infrastructure, which is currently based on Huawei equipment, while the public entity prepares to take over the electronics so as not to depend on the Asian supplier.
The presence of the Chinese manufacturer in the official documentation responds to the need to manage the infrastructure deployed in previous phases within the Spanish academic and scientific connectivity network. In the technical specifications of the contract file tendered in August, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), Red.es establishes that among the accreditation certifications required of engineers, the HCIP-Datacom-Advanced Routing & Switching Technology degree from Huawei will be valued, along with the JNCIP-SP accreditation from Juniper. The descriptive report of the tender specifies that this requirement seeks to ensure technical attention to the electronics in production and does not imply the acquisition of new equipment from the Chinese manufacturer.
The management of the inherited equipment is the direct consequence of the suspension of the contract (file 017/25-RI), published on July 17, 2025. That main project planned to allocate 9.8 million euros to the supply, installation and management of components to expand the capacity of the RedIRIS-NOVA100 network from 100 to 400 Gbps on the Huawei routing platform operated by Telefónica.
Given the media commotion caused after EL PAÍS/Cinco Días revealed the contract, the Government canceled the procedure in August 2025 in the midst of the debate on the use of Chinese technology in strategic infrastructure, stopping the projected expansion but keeping the equipment already deployed in the network nodes operational.
One year after the cancellation, on July 15, 2026, Red.es carried out a preliminary market consultation (identified as A014/26-RI), as this newspaper reported. The objective of the procedure is to collect technical and economic information on the commercial solutions available in the industry to replace IP electronics with new equipment equipped with interfaces of up to 400 Gbps, analyzing technological alternatives before drafting the specifications for the new public tender.
The announcement of this preliminary market consultation marks the difference in approach compared to the tender canceled in 2025. While that proposed expanding the network based on Huawei's existing architecture, the preliminary consultation seeks to know the industry's options to define an open tender that determines which manufacturer will supply the next generation electronics.
The contractual deadlines set in the tenders approved in July and August 2026 coordinate the transitional operations. The 38 months of the hardware maintenance contract awarded to Telefónica and the 40 months of the operation and advanced technical support contract establish a temporary window of three and a half years of in-service coverage. This margin allows Red.es to evaluate the responses to the market consultation, prepare the Technical Prescription Documents, call the public supply tender, award the contract and execute the physical migration of the equipment without interrupting data traffic in the universities and scientific institutions connected to RedIRIS.
World controversy
The deployment of Huawei networks and equipment has been involved in an intense geopolitical controversy over global cybersecurity. Following the veto imposed by the United States on the Chinese technology giant due to espionage risks, the European Commission formally classified the multinational as a “high risk” supplier and urged member states to exclude its technology from critical infrastructures. Unlike partners such as Germany or the United Kingdom—which promoted explicit blockades and the replacement of their equipment—Spain opted for a more lukewarm position by not officially including Huawei on its blacklist. This decision allowed the Chinese firm to continue accessing important awards in ministries such as the Interior, Digital Transformation or Social Security.
However, the institutional scenario has taken a turn in the face of growing international pressure and recent scandals regarding public procurement and political influence networks linked to the company in the country. To appease the cybersecurity alerts issued by Brussels and NATO, the Spanish Government has begun to discreetly maneuver to gradually displace the technology company.
By tightening the requirements of the National 5G Security Scheme and unilaterally canceling key public contracts – such as the modernization of the IRIS network itself – Spain seeks to gradually reduce its dependence on Chinese infrastructure in the administration without the need to declare a formal legislative veto.
