Huawei is the Chinese telecoms giant intending to roll-out 5G mobile
networks. The company began by making equipment for mobile phone networks. It
has eclipsed the likes of Nokia and Ericsson. It now sells smartphones as well
and is the third largest supplier after Samsung and Apple.
The firms’s founder Ren Zhengfei (pic below) was a former PLA officer. The firm is
based in Shenzhen with 180,000 employees.
Several governments have blocked their own indigenous telecom companies
from using Huawei’s 5G mobile networks. This is probably at the behest of the
U.S.
What is 5G?
The fifth-generation mobile broadband that is coming within a year or so
promises downloads and browsing speeds of 10-20 times faster the present 4G
networks. It will power the “internet of things” enabling connected machines
from traffic lights to driverless cars communicating with each other.
So is Huawei a threat?
The U.S. thinks so – why? The founder is of military background, there is
“collusion” between the firm and the government and the technology that sits at
the heart of vital communications network has the capacity to conduct espionage
or disruption.
In December 2018, Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial
officer and daughter of the founder. Why? Because she allegedly committed fraud
by lying to the U.S. banks about her firm’s ties to business in Iran. This is a
breach of U.S. trade sanctions on Iran. Huawei denies any wrongdoing.
The real problem for the U.S. is that Huawei sells to about 170 countries
worldwide and has a lead time over U.S. manufacturers by a year or so in 5G.
This is perhaps an attempt to slow or stop China’s technology outstripping the
U.S. Huawei therefore has to bear the brunt for being faster and cheaper than
others.
1. Huawei:
Should we be worried about the Chinese tech giant? – BBC
News, 18 Feb 2019
2. Banning Huawei might hurt Europe’s plans to
roll out 5G – Emily Price, Fortune, 4 Feb 2019
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