Could the world number one in telecom infrastructure be the big loser in the launch of 5G? In this year when this new mobile technology is to be introduced worldwide, the Chinese Huawei is weakened as never before. Suspected by the Trump administration of spying on or paralyzing client countries under Beijing's orders, the Shenzhen giant faces unrivaled distrust. So in the UK where it is now threatened with exclusion from this strategic market.
On Wednesday 10 June, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he wanted " the British government (design) networks to protect them and ensuring the country has secure 5G networks ", barely veiled allusion to Huawei. The day before, US Secretary of State Steve Pompeo had even offered US aid to the British for alternative technologies to the giant from Shenzhen.
A snub
However, London had opened the door in January to the installation of Huawei equipment to deploy the 5G network, certainly on a limited portion of the network: no more than 35%, and in no case on parts considered strategic. A real snub for the American ally who has continued to bend 10 Downing Street, even threatening to break the exchange of information between the two countries as part of the Five Eyes alliance.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now said to be considering the gradual unraveling of Huawei’s facilities by 2023 or 2024. Not enough for a group of British Conservative parliamentarians – including David Cameron’s former minister, Iain Duncan Smith. June 8, to Telegraph, he deplored his country's dependence on Chinese business and judged "Insufficient" the measures proposed by the host at 10 Downing Street.
Faced with this massive offensive, Huawei is trying to put out the fires by taking public opinion as a witness. In recent days, he has bought advertising space in the British press in order to convince the government not to exclude it from future 5G networks.
Compensation?
In a statement, Victor Zhang, vice president of the Chinese group, said that “Huawei grew up in the UK. We have been here for twenty years and we have been an integral part of the construction of the 3G and 4G networks that we use every day (…). We are responsible, we provide the best technology and we care about security ”.
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