(Yicai Global) Oct. 24 -- Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies and Portuguese mobile carrier NOS have built the European country's first fifth-generation network in the northern city of Matosinhos.

"The NOS 5G network is fully operational and piloted by the local authority, companies and research centers for the development of leveraged use cases in this technology," Xinhua News Agency cited NOS Chief Executive Miguel Almeida as saying in a statement.

"Making Matosinhos the first national city with a 100 percent operational 5G network is a milestone in the history of telecommunications in Portugal, he added, saying the network had been built in partnership with Huawei.

The city in Porto, Portugal's second-biggest administrative region, borders the Atlantic Ocean and has a vast coastline and distinctive historic building that make tourism an important part of its economy.

Huawei has been racking up commercial 5G contracts across the globe and now has 23 in Europe of a total 60 worldwide, its 5G Product Line President Yang Chaobin said at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Zurich last week.

Editor: James Boynton