Huawei has denied reports that it was excluded from India’s national 5G trials.
India’s Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan was quoted as saying the government had invited vendors such as Cisco, Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia, along with telecom operators, to partner on 5G technology trials and that Huawei had been excluded.
“We have written to Cisco, Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia, and telecom service providers to partner with us to start 5G technology-based trials, and have got a positive response from them.
We have excluded Huawei from these trials.”
Huawei, however, has pushed back against that characterization. In comments to ZDNet, the company said it is an active participant in India’s growing 5G ecosystem and that the government of India has been supportive.
Reports also suggested that ZTE, another Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer, had been excluded, though Sundararajan’s original remarks named only Huawei. If both companies were excluded, it would align India with other countries that have cited national security concerns when restricting Chinese suppliers from sensitive communications infrastructure.
Governments in several countries, including the United States and Australia, have raised fears that Chinese companies could be subject to pressure from their government to provide access or install hidden vulnerabilities in equipment, potentially enabling surveillance or disruption of critical networks. Huawei has consistently denied such allegations.
On Australia’s decision to prohibit Huawei from participating in its 5G rollout, Huawei responded that the move was politically motivated and not based on a transparent, evidence-driven process. The company argued the ban would deny consumers and businesses access to the full range of communications technologies.
Debate over vendor participation in 5G development continues to balance supply-chain security, national security concerns and the need for broad vendor competition to ensure innovation and affordability in next-generation networks.
Do you think Huawei should be involved in India’s 5G trials? Share your views in the comments.
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