Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei is confident that certain European telecommunications companies will choose it to provide 5G technology to their main networks, the company’s chief representative to the EU, Abraham Liu, told Reuters on Friday .
Huawei, based in Shenzhen, is at the center of a conflict between China and the United States, the latter claiming that the company’s 5G technology could be used as a backdoor spy channel for Beijing.
Huawei has denied the allegations and dismissed the accusations saying that the United States itself has long experience of modifying digital products to collect information.
Speaking to journalists in Copenhagen, Liu said he was confident that European operators would choose Huawei as the technology provider for their so-called core networks where sensitive data is processed.
“It is important to give them (the operators) the freedom of choice, and they will judge which supplier can bring them the best commercial value,” Liu told Reuters.
The European Union unveiled new 5G guidelines for member states in January, in which it allowed each country to decide what role Huawei could play in their networks.
Britain recently granted Huawei a limited role in its 5G mobile network by deciding that it would be allowed to enter non-sensitive parts of the network.
Liu said that after Huawei has installed its 5G network technology, operators have “100% control” over all information flows in the network and that all network access is logged.
“We are building the entire highway and then the highway operators, they will manage the toll and how many cars drive on the highway,” he said.
“We give the key … They have full control over this.”
Germany and France have yet to take an official position on whether to limit or ban individual 5G technology providers from their mobile networks.
The cybersecurity agency in France, where Huawei has announced plans to build a manufacturing plant, is currently examining 5G equipment, including that of Huawei.
