Huawei, which has a 28 percent global share of the telecoms equipment market, is closely engaging with India to clarify its stand on 5G solutions, network security, and Chinese intelligence laws, Reuters quoted Huawei India CEO Jay Chen as saying on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi on Monday.
Amid the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China, Washington has asked New Delhi to refrain from permitting the Chinese tech company from operating 5G trials, citing concerns that Huawei’s telecom equipment could allegedly be used for surveillance, reports say.
India, the world’s second largest wireless market in terms of users, is yet to decide its stance on allowing or banning the Chinese company from participating in the 5G test runs scheduled for later in the country.
Fueling end-to-end 5G capabilities including chipset, device, cloud service and network, Huawei currently has over 150,000 5G base stations around the world.
Indian telecom players including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have previously used Huawei, as well as European companies like Nokia and Ericsson, to build their 2G, 3G and 4G networks.
The Indian telecom giants have also previously mentioned the importance of having all three international players in India to maintain competition, price and service quality in the country.
Huawei first extended the proposal to sign a “no backdoor” agreement with the Indian government earlier in June, just one day before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited India.
Threatening consequences for Indian firms operating in China, Beijing previously warned India against blocking Huawei from continuing businesses in the country, the report noted.
Several companies including Qualcomm, Microsoft, Intel and UK-based chip designer ARM suspended their transactions with the Chinese company.
Moreover, a potential row over Huawei's participation in India's 5G push could revive tensions between Beijing and New Delhi at a time when the two countries have been making efforts to resolve their territorial disputes.
Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the beach-town of Mamallapuram in India, held talks aimed at resolving border disputes, trade rows and concerns about China's close military ties with Pakistan.
"India cannot afford to wait longer for 5G", Chen was quoted as saying.
On 14 October, Huawei claimed to have deployed India's first Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based pre-5G technology on the Vodafone-Idea network.
Citing national security concerns, US President Donald Trump has effectively banned Huawei from America, claiming the tech company was spying through its devices on behalf of the Chinese goverment. Both Huawei and Beijing have denied the allegations as baseless, but the US has lobbied its allies and partners, including Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand and the UK, to follow suit and keep Huawei and 5G out of these respective countries.
