U.S. Pushes Allies to Drop Huawei Equipment
The U.S. government has been reportedly trying to persuade wireless and internet providers in allied countries not to use telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies.
U.S. officials have reached out to their government counterparts and telecom executives in friendly countries where Huawei equipment is already in use about what they see as cybersecurity risks, according to a WSJ report.
The government’s concerns is based on the use of Chinese telecom equipment in countries that host U.S. military bases, such as Germany, Italy and Japan.
The United States has already barred Huawei, the world’s biggest telecom gear maker, from supplying its government and contractors, while Australia has banned the company from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network.
Washington has been considering increasing financial aid for telecommunications development in countries that shun Chinese-made equipment, the report added.
Huawei has repeatedly denied engaging in intelligence work for any government.
The U.S. has also banned China for a 3-month period, before reaching to a $1.4 billion settlement.
Huawei did not provide any comment yet.
The Chinese company has said it had signed 22 commercial contracts for 5G networks, and has unveiled plans to open a new information security lab in Germany that will enable source code reviews, in a step aimed at winning regulators’ confidence before the country’s 5G mobile spectrum auction.