Confident Of Participating In India’s 5G Trials, Huawei CEO Seeks A Level Playing Field

Chinese telecom equipment major Huawei is confident of getting 5G trial approval from the Indian government. It has also asked the regulators to get an agreement signed from all the vendors on security aspects.

The government should encourage ‘no back door’ agreement from all the vendors to discourage espionage and provide a level playing field among the players, a top official at Huawei India said.

Comfort agreement

“I have proposed to the government that let all the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), vendors sign an agreement with the government to comfort its concerns and trust, and take them into confidence,” Jay Chen, Chief Executive Officer, Huawei India told BusinessLine.

Chance to grow

He said the government is talking about achieving $1 trillion revenue by 2025 in digital economy, and technology such as 5G has strong potential to contribute to it. The Indian government should take an open approach to meet that target.

“The next 10 years is a golden era for the Indian telecom sector to grow and this is the right time for all the companies around the world to collaborate. India should not miss this valuable chance,” Chen said adding that the government should act like an opportunity giver and not a barrier.He said the company has been communicating with the government for the last eight months and has clarified all the required information.

The government has recently announced that 5G trials will begin in the next 100 days.

Asked about the relationships with its customers like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, Chen said that it is ‘business as usual’ and there was no impact in the supply chain.

“They (customers) just need consent from the government right now. We are ready to work together on 5G trials. Our other businesses whether it is 2G, 3G, 4G or microwave, all are going as usual,” Chen added.

Preparing for G20

Chen’s statements comes just a day before the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo comes to India to talk around trade and India’s relationships with other nations, and specially the might of China.

The talks are aimed at laying the ground for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the week at a G20 meeting in Japan.

Huawei has been in a long battle with the US government following the Trump administration asking American companies to stop using Huawei products fearing breach of data and threat to American infrastructure.―The Hindu Business Line