Following an influential parliamentary committee calling on Rome to block China’s Huawei to build Italy’s 5G telecom infrastructure, the country’s industry minister stated, Huawei should be allowed to bid for Italy’s 5G spectrum.

“We have passed legislation that guarantees national security. With the right defenses, the possibility of (Huawei’s) access is not up for debate,” said minister Stefano Patuanelli, to La Stampa daily.

With Italy’s biggest phone group Telecom Italia (TIM) being in the process of selecting suppliers to build its 5G network infrastructure and with Huawei being among the contenders, a parliamentary security committee Copasir had advised the Italian government last week, saying it should consider preventing Huawei and ZTE from taking part in the development of 5G networks.

Patuanelli has however stated, “Huawei offers the best solutions at the best prices. One cannot fly the flag of the market with one hand and that of protectionism with the other”.