Huawei has said that it would be willing to have its 5G technology examined to prove it is not a security threat. As reported by Phone Arena, Huawei is more than welcoming of any examination that may get it off the U.S. entity list.
Huawei has long been perceived as a threat to national security in the U.S. This has led it to be placed on the so-called ‘entity-list’. This prevents Huawei from accessing its U.S. supply chain for technology as well as chips etc.
The reason why the U.S. government perceive Huawei to be a threat is due to supposed links between the company and the Chinese Communist government.
This has led the U.S. government to suggest it would be willing to finance 5G telecom purchases. The hope is that if they did this, they could distance Huawei from gaining any 5G footholds in the U.S.
Huawei heavily disrupted by U.S. sanctions
Now that Huawei is on the entity list they have had to scramble to find suppliers for key parts of its products. They have also lost the ability to license the Google Mobile Services version of Android.
This has meant losing Google’s Android apps like Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail, Drive from Huawei phones. This lose is not a problem in China as Google’s apps are already banned. However, outside of China Huawei’s sales have already become impacted by the loss of Google’s Android ecosystem.
A recent tightening of the entity list’s rules stated that any company n the world must obtain a license before shipping chips made with U.S. technology to Huawei. This has meant Huawei’s ability to manufacture its cutting-edge Mate 40 series has become near impossible.
The U.S. has also asked its allies not to use Huawei gear for their 5G networks. Some have followed this request whilst others, such as Britain, have not.
Huawei open to an examination of its 5G technology
As a result of all of this disruption the head of Huawei’s Italian unit, President Luigi De Vecchis has commented on the matter. He said the company will happily submit to an examination of its facilities.
He said that “we will open our insides, we are available to be vivisected to respond to all of this political pressure”. Whether this makes any difference to the U.S. government’s approach to Huawei is anybody’s guess.
However, what we do know is that Huawei is not feeling the pressure of these sanctions heavily. The company now wants to find ways to alleviate these sanctions.
Submitting to an examination may be one way to do this. However, the U.S. government still does not seem like it will change its tone so easily on this topic. We may now be seeing the first steps in some corporation in this story though, so watch this space.