A Slippery Downward Slope for Huawei?
"Belgium has been 100 percent reliant on Chinese vendors for its radio networks -- and people working at NATO and the EU were making mobile phone calls on these networks.""The operators are sending a signal that it's important to have access to safe networks."John Strand, independent Danish telecom consultant"This is the outcome of a tender organized by operators and the result of the free market.""We embrace fair competition, the most diversified a supply chain the more competitive it becomes."Huawei spokesperson“If an operator wishes to have a competitive tendering process with a few vendors, then Samsung is likely to be [in] contention if companies from China [Huawei and ZTE] are excluded."“Samsung benefits from being based in South Korea that had very early 5G launches on all three operators in April 2019, high average 5G download speeds averaging over 300Mbps as well as high 5G adoption rate."“The 5G services we see today are based on early versions and users’ experience will leap forward in the coming years.The race to 5G is a marathon that will last for years to come … vendors must ensure they are ahead in enabling fantastic experiences throughout the 5G era."Ian Fogg, vice president, analysis, UK-based research group Opensignal"[Samsung is catching up further as Huawei loses out on new mobile broadband opportunities in Japan, India, Korea and in parts of Europe]. Some of this is already showing up in the numbers … with particularly Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung benefitting in some markets … Huawei’s market share outside of China has stabilised and it is possible these trends might have differed without the US government interference.""[Although Huawei is losing some ground], it will not be easier to fill its shoes. Huawei is a technology leader with a very deep and broad mobile infrastructure equipment and services portfolio addressing not just the use cases of today but also of tomorrow."Stefan Pongratz, 5G expert, vice president, Dell’Oro Group
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| By November last year, Samsung had more than 2,800 declared 5G patents, second only to Huawei that had 3,325 patents. Bloomberg |
In Belgium, Orange and Proximus selected Nokia's involvement in building 5G networks, dropping Huawei -- with U.S. pressure to exclude the Chinese communications technology giant from supplying key telecommunications equipment -- moves among the first by commercial operators in Europe to exclude Huawei from next-generation networks. Months of diplomatic pressure from Washington warning that Huawei equipment could be a portal for Beijing's infamous surveillance intrusions.
Brussels is home to the NATO alliance and the executive and parliament of the European Union, all reason enough for concerns expressed by American intelligence agencies. "This is the latest example of evaporating Huawei deals and further confirmation of this worldwide momentum toward trusted vendors", pointed out the U.S. Undersecretary at the State Department for economic growth, energy and the environment.
As the world's largest telecoms equipment supplier, Huawei emphatically denies U.S. allegations of surveillance involvement of other nations' state secrets and classified business espionage that Beijing is so famous in excelling at. It has been vociferously defensive over calls to ban the company from international 5G upgrade contracts. Huawei has supplied telecommunications equipment to Belgium for over a decade, but it signalled its acceptance of the decision to seek services elsewhere.
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One mobile carrier in Belgium has been left to decide which supplier it will select for its next mobile networks. Liberty Telenet relies on equipment produced by China's ZTE, planning to announce its 5G decision in the first half of 2021, according to a spokeswoman. Nokia has been boosted by the deals to supply radio gear to Orange Belgium and Proximus after its struggle to make some headway in the 5G market. "I have tried to become RAN [radio access network] supplier to Orange Belgium since 2003 when the company was still Mobistar. Here we are, finally", president of Nokia Mobile Networks, Tommi Uitto, tweeted.
Ericsson was chosen by Orange Belgiumand Prximus to supply the core of their 5G networks just as EU members have been increasing their scrutiny of high-risk vendors, subjecting Huawei's governance and technology to critical examination, an outcome likely to lead other European operators to strip Huawei equipment from their networks, according to analysts. The major beneficiaries of the challenges facing Huawei have been Nokia and Ericsson.
A bit reminiscent of Huawei's startling rise to prominence in the world of global communications, when it gleaned critical data and mined the infrastructure of Canada's then-prominent world-leader in communications technology, Nortel, hiring its former Chinese national work teams, leading to Nortel's downfall. One might say this is just desserts coming home to roost. From Bell Canada and Telus Corp. in Canada, to BT in Britain, the Nordic companies are taking market share from Huawei.
Telefonica UK is prepared to replace the less than one percent of Huawei kit in its network, and has contracted with Nokia to provide data management software, completing Britain's transition from Huawei dependence to Huawei exclusion. New Zealand long since made its decision to exclude Huawei as did Australia. Of the Five Eyes intelligence partnership, only Canada lags behind in failing to issue an official statement that Huawei will not be involved in its 5G upgrade.
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Labels: Belgium, Ericsson, European Union, Five Eyes, Global 5G Upgrades, Huawei, NATO, Nokia, Samsung
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, October 13, 2020
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