Ericsson gained approval to provide 5G network equipment to mobile operators in Romania, just weeks after Nokia was effectively banned from the market.

The Sweden-based vendor told Mobile World Live the Supreme Council of National Defence (CSAT) had cleared it to pitch for commercial 5G networks, confirming a report by local news site hotnews.ro which stated the decision was revealed in the Official Gazette yesterday (28 April).

Romania’s government told Nokia in February was not authorised to provide 5G infrastructure.

Earlier this month, the Finland-based supplier told Mobile World Live it was seeking urgent clarification for the reasons for this decision and had instigated legal proceedings in the meantime.

The government banned Huawei and other Chinese vendors from the 5G market in 2021.

Newspaper Romania Journal previously noted CSAT had approved telecoms and IT contractor Starc4Sys, security and alarms specialist Compania de Paza, and IT systems provider Concept Electronics for participation in 5G networks.

In addition, hotnews.ro reported the local operation of Juniper Networks received the green light for 5G equipment supplies on 1 April.

Ericsson and a unit of Digi Communications in 2019 claimed to have launched the first commercial 5G service in Romania.