Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei said Tuesday if India bans the company in the country owing to the pressure from the US—which claims the company is in cahoots with the Chinese government to spy on the US—the rollout of 5G services in the country will be pushed behind by two to three years.
Huawei has always denied these espionage allegations calling them baseless.
“Around the world, Huawei has already secured more than 50 commercial 5G contracts, which shows that these customers from around the world believe that Huawei’s 5G is secure,” Ritchie Peng, chief marketing officer, wireless network product line, Huawei, told media. Out of the said 50 contracts, 28 are from Europe, followed by 11 in the Middle East, six in Asia-Pacific, four in South America, and one in Africa.
While Australia and Japan have debarred Huawei, and most probably Canada and New Zealand will do so too, Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have welcomed the company to deploy its 5G network.
Touted as the next-generation technology that will improve wireless communication, 5G is expected to power the Internet of Things (IoT) making smart houses and connected devices a norm in the near future.
In June 2019, Huawei sent feelers to the Indian government on its intention to sign a “no back door” pact, in a bid to allay potential security concerns. Signing a “no back door” pact would essentially mean that Huawei can’t access customer’s network without their consent, which otherwise it can under exceptional circumstances.
India is yet to decide on allowing Huawei in the 5G trials and rollouts. The decision on the same is likely to be taken during the second informal summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October 2019 after the informal parleys they had in China last year.
Huawei has so far invested more than USD 3.5 billion in the India market. It is expected to go ahead with its plans for India related to artificial intelligence technology, despite the pressure tactics of the US amidst the escalating US-China trade war.
However, in June 2019, India’s GSM Association predicted the country would have only 88 million 5G connections by 2025, which is around 7% of India’s total telecom connections. “This will leave India trailing regional peers such as China, which is set to see almost 30% of its total connections base on 5G by 2025, making it by some way the largest 5G market in the world,” GSM Association said.