Huawei global chairman Guo Ping on Sunday alleged that the Trump administration is creating hurdles in the sale of its 5G telecom equipment to India and is sending its top officials to negatively influence the government and corporates against the company.
“The US has used its national power,and Vice-President Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo have done a lot of things.I have heard that some officials of the US administration are going to India to persuade them not to use Huawei.What is the motivation behind this?”Ping told TOI a day ahead of the opening of the Mobile World Congress(MWC).
The MWC,an annual platform where some of the world’s top telecom and electronics companies display their latest technology,is increasingly being seen as a platform where the US administration and Huawei officials will come face-to-face after allegations by US President Donald Trump that the Chinese company is a security risk.
The government has so far not made its stand very clear,even though there is speculation that Huawei and fellow Chinese firm ZTE may face difficulties in being eligible for 5G test trials in the country.The department of telecom will kick-start the process soon,and network providers such as Huawei,Ericsson and Nokia are aligning with mobile operators to showcase test cases.
Ping said,“We have had very good operations in the Indian market,and currently we are(preparing for)running 5G tests.”The Huawei chairman said top economies such as China and India should be mindful of the protectionist moves of the US administration which has earlier created hurdles for growing companies from other regions as well.“I know that in the past,some Japanese,French and South Korean companies have encountered similar situations and Huawei is encountering these situations now.The Indian economy is growing very fast.Who knows,may be one day some Indian companies will be facing a similar situation because they are growing faster than some others.”
Huawei India CEO Jay Chen has said that the company is geared up to participate in the government’s 5G trials and dismissed the global concerns around security as“politically motivated”.
Chen said Huawei is in talks with“almost all”Indian mobile operators for selling its 5G equipment.“We have had demos with Airtel and Reliance Jio.Discussions are also there with Vodafone-Idea and BSNL.”
