US Telcos in Early Talks With Huawei For 5G Network License

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Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei, who was once blacklisted by the American government, is said to be in early-stage talks with some U.S. telecoms companies about licensing its 5G network technology to them.

According to Reuters, Vincent Pang, the Vice President of the company and a member of its board, said some American firms, whose names he declined to mention, had expressed interest in both a long-term deal or a one-off transfer.

He said: “There are some companies talking to us, but it would take a long journey to really finalize everything,” Pang explained on a visit to Washington this week.

He added that though the companies have shown interest, the discussions Huawei’s representatives had with them are only a couple of weeks old and not at a detailed level yet.

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It could be recalled that the U.S. government, fearing Huawei equipment could be used to spy on customers, has led a campaign to convince allies to bar it from their 5G networks, but Huawei, itself, has repeatedly denied the claim.

According to Reuters, currently, there are no U.S. 5G providers and European rivals Ericsson  and Nokia  are generally more expensive.

Recall that in May, Huawei, the world’s largest telecoms equipment provider, was placed on a U.S. blacklist over national security concerns, banning it from buying American-made parts without a special license.

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Washington also has brought criminal charges against the company, alleging bank fraud, violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, and theft of trade secrets, which Huawei denies.

Sources has,moreover, claimed that the US department of Commerce have concluded plans to initiate rules that will effectively ban Huawei from the U.S. telecoms supply chain.

The idea of a one-off fee in exchange for access to Huawei’s 5G patents, licenses, code and know-how was first floated by CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei in interviews with the New York Times and the Economist last month. But it was not previously clear whether there was any interest from U.S. companies.

Samson Oyedeyi