A look into Huawei

Huawei, a Chinese telecommunication giant that started in 1987. Many countries viewed Huawei as a de facto to the Chinese government which raises security concerns. Adding to that Huawei has been accused of stealing the intellectual property of other companies. Some of these claims were proven true and some led to nothing but speculations.

The Chinese telecommunications company was growing at an alarming rate, so much so that they began to buy out companies to expand their operations. Some companies could not be bought out however due to security concerns.

Huawei began the production of its smartphones, which became popular due to their design and reasonable prices. Huawei manages to become the largest smartphone manufacturer overtaking both Samsung and Apple in 2020, despite not having a presence in the U.S market.

Security concerns

With its close ties to China, Huawei has been met with skepticism and many countries have accused  Huawei of stealing intellectual properties from other countries. Another security concern is that Huawei’s telecom equipment has backdoors in them which makes them vulnerable to cyberattacks and sabotage,  putting vital supply chains at risk.

Many have also feared that using Huawei’s products such as its smartphones and integrating Huawei’s telecom equipment will enable the Chinese government to spy on other nations and its citizens.

The United States and Canada stance on Huawei

Following the trade war that is still ongoing and the ban on Huawei, the relations that the U.S and China have is uneasy. The Huawei ban took effect in full force on April 1st, 2020. Which banned Huawei from doing business in the U.S. Following that major companies such as Google, follow suit and cut ties with the Chinese Telecom company. 5G is developing and emerging but the United States will not be turning to Huawei to use its equipment. In fear that the U.S telecom infrastructure will be vulnerable if Huawei tech is implemented. And with so many backdoors the Chinese government can spy on U.S residents.

Canada has effectively banned Huawei and will not be working with Huawei on building its 5G infrastructure. Canada has been pressured by the United States on the matter, citing that the company’s close ties to China are a red flag. The leaf-bearing nation is also in hot waters with China following the detainment of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, for extradition to the U.S. For the development of Canada’s 5g infrastructure, Telus, Bell, and Rogers. Canada’s biggest wireless provider will be working with Ericsson (Sweden) and Nokia (Finland) to build 5g networks. 

Europe and Huawei

The European Union and the U.K are severing ties with Huawei. With Sweden’s Ericcson and Finland’s Nokia snatching up most of the work to develop several European nations 5g infrastructure. Strand Report published its report and found that Huawei supplied 45% and ZTE 7% of the technology for 4G RAN in Europe. Some countries in Europe having all of their telecom equipment supplied by Huawei.

The Europeans have also angered China, denouncing them of their actions on what happened in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. In addition to supporting the U.S and opposing them on their claims of the South China Sea. Security concerns have arisen, seeing that most of their telecommunication infrastructure is built upon Chinese gear. Europe is afraid that China can perform a major cyber attack and shut down networks. With all these factors, along with the U.S urging for a complete ban on Huawei. Huawei will not be building Europe’s 5G infrastructure.

Huawei still in business

The western nations may have banned Huawei but that won’t extinguish the telecom giant. As China has invested heavily in Africa, many African countries will opt for Huawei. A few countries such as Saudi Arabia have also expressed interest in doing business with Huawei. Signing up for the Chinese company to develop their 5G infrastructure. Southeast Asia is a battlefield with some opting for European companies to develop their infrastructure and others going with Huawei. It seems like Huawei will be here to stay.