Sweden’s telecoms authority PTS was forced to postpone its 5G auction, due to kick off today (10 November), following a court ruling to suspend the regulator’s decision to exclude Huawei from the country’s next-generation rollout.

A press release from Stockholm’s administrative court confirmed the ruling, stating that “certain parts of PTS’s decision prior to the upcoming 5G auction will not apply until further notice”.

Last month, PTS banned the country’s operators that had signed up to participate in the auction from using products made by both Huawei and ZTE, following a security assessment.

The country also followed the UK by ordering operators to strip out the vendors’ products from 4G and 5G networks, by 1 January 2025, citing security concerns.

However, Huawei hit back, appealing the decision last week, arguing its exclusion would not benefit customers or the country in general.

Senior Judge Johan Lundmark clarified that the administrative court would continue to deliberate the case, implying that it did not necessarily represent a win for the Chinese vendor at this stage.

Following the court’s ruling, PTS issued a statement announcing the planned auction would not proceed as planned, and it would look to start the process as soon as possible.

Speaking to Reuters, Kenneth Fredriksen, Huawei’s EVP Central East Europe and Nordic region said the company had no more plans for legal action, but was open to dialogue with the authorities.

“We are willing to cooperate fully in terms of any future requirements,” he said.