A number of wireless carriers from across the globe say there’s no evidence of Huawei spying on anyone like some congressional committees and intelligence experts in the United States recently suggested, Reuters reports. Deutsche Telekom revealed its collaboration with Huawei is both long-lasting and multifaceted, with the network equipment procured by the Chinese company being specifically built to the telecom giant’s specifications, then examined by its security experts. Bell Canada VP of Wireless Networks Bruce Rodin said the firm relies on independent cybersecurity auditors to asses Huawei’s equipment and never had any spying suspicions reported to it in approximately a decade of collaboration. No “malicious code or backdoors” have ever been discovered as part of Huawei-made network solutions and the company’s recent issues in the U.S. are “a commercial thing,” Mr. Rodin said, suggesting that Washington is simply trying to protect its own industry by blocking Huawei’s attempts to rival it.
Thomas Jarzombek, a German parliament member and digital spokesman for Christian Democratic Union of Germany, the party that’s currently leading Europe’s economically strongest country, said Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing activities suggest Silicon Valley giants may not be any more trustworthy than their Chinese peers. Huawei recently pledged to invest over $4 billion in the United Kingdom and also earned the support of the second largest economy on the Old Continent. Paris-based wireless carrier Orange said it doesn’t treat Huawei differently than any other network equipment supplier, adding that it’s equally cautious will all of its partners.
Washington is still understood to be calling for its foreign allies to drop Huawei from their 5G plans, citing security concerns due to the company’s close ties to Beijing. Whereas stateside wireless carriers should all begin deploying 5G technologies by early 2019, large-scale rollouts in Europe are only projected to start in 2020, theoretically leaving EU operators with enough time to replace Huawei should they want to. That still doesn’t seem like a probable scenario as the level of distrust the company is facing in the U.S. cannot be compared to any of its European markets where it’s largely enjoying a healthy working relationship with both telecoms and governments. Outside of its 5G ambitions, Huawei is set to introduce its latest mobile offerings next month, having just confirmed the P20 Android flagship series will be announced on March 27 in Paris, France.