Huawei Asks India To Take Independent Call On 5G Soon; DoT internally Splits

Chinese gear maker Huawei Technologies said that the government should take an independent decision soon on the firm’s participation in the country’s 5G development, an issue which has split the telecom department.

“It is a right time for the telecom department to make the decision after almost 6-8 months of close engagement, and are quite happy and positive about the engagement,” Huawei India chief executive Jay Chen said on the sidelines of an industry event.

The Chinese telecom equipment supplier was looking at clarity from the Indian government following the US blacklist citing security concerns and has come under scrutiny worldwide.

Newly-appointed telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that that the department would take a serious look into the issue of Huawei being allowed to participate in the 5G trials.

“Participation of 5G is not conditional on the trial being started. Whether a company is allowed to participate or not is a complex question, including security issues,” Prasad added.

The government has also formed an inter-ministerial committee to look into network security aspects with telecom being a critical infrastructure.

The Department of Telecommunications itself is believed be divided.

One section believing the country can’t have just two network equipment suppliers and there are risks from European vendors as well. This section believes Huawei should be given an opportunity in the 5G trials which will also allow India to scrutinize the security vulnerabilities if any.

The other though believes Chinese vendors are a serious security threat to India, given that those companies are – under Chinese law – duty bound to share information with the government.

Chen believes that Indian decision would not be influenced despite the US pressure on the matter, and added the technological developments and advancements in 5G and massive Mimo are coming from the Chinese company.

The Huawei’s participation in 5G trials, according to him, would benefit the industry.

The top executive of the largest gear company also said that he would plan to meet the new minister sometime soon, to present its standpoint.

In May, the US president Donald Trump has put Huawei and its affiliates on a blacklist that has also triggered a trade war with China but has later relaxed some sanctions.―Business Telegraph