Chinese vendor Huawei, which has so far been barred from several major US deals due to security concerns, is reportedly in the running for two major contracts.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Huawei is a finalist for the contract to build…
Chinese vendor Huawei, which has so far been barred from several major US deals due to security concerns, is reportedly in the running for two major contracts.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Huawei is a finalist for the contract to build an LTE network for the mobile operator US Cellular.
It also reported that Huawei was in talks with the US authorities (at national, regional and local level) to provide technology for a nationwide network for the country’s public safety workers.
Several Republican senators and a Republican member in the House of Representatives also have reportedly sent a letter to President Obama, calling for a permanent solution that would stop Huawei from selling network infrastructure equipment in the US.
This comes after several other strategic moves by Huawei in the US have been blocked due to national security concerns.
Huawei’s decided in February to withdraw from its application to acquire assets from the US server company 3Leaf Systems after the US Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) recommended that the deal should be withdrawn.
In 2009, it bid for a network infrastructure contract at US telco Sprint Nextel, but lost out to Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Samsung. This was despite the fact that Huawei and another Chinese vendor, ZTE, had reportedly tendering lower bids.
At the time, a group of US politicians, including Jon Kyl, sent a letter to the FCC chairman with their concerns regarding Huawei’s alleged links to the US military.
In 2008, Huawei had to drop a bid (made jointly with US private equity firm Bain) for computer equipment-maker 3Com due to concerns over security.
Separately, Reuters reported yesterday that Huawei’s group CTO, Matt Bross, had suggested that the regulatory issues raised by the 3Leaf Systems deal had ultimately produced a better understanding of the company by the US authorities.
Bross also reportedly said that more formal channels had been created between Huawei and the US government.
Huawei did not reply to questions before the press deadline.
