Why the price of Europe following the US’ Huawei boycott may be far too high

There may be no way to exclude China from the process of building wireless networks, and there is definitely none without setting 5G development back significantly

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Huawei Technologies’ headquarters in Duesseldorf, Germany. German regulators have begun to echo the rhetoric of the US on Huawei, with the national regulator stating last week that the Chinese company is not “trustworthy” enough to be involved in construction of the country’s fifth-generation mobile networks. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:30am, 19 Mar 2019Updated: 4:58am, 19 Mar 2019

The Americans will not relent in their boycott of Huawei, even when challenged. They have warned that the use of Chinese 5G technology will affect intelligence cooperation. The Trump administration’s campaign is far-reaching – shops in the United States have already stopped selling Huawei phones and modems.

During the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, US President Donald Trump tweeted that he wanted the US to win markets for its technology “through competition, not by blocking out currently more advanced technologies”. The president has pointed out that the US would not boycott Huawei if he got a good trade deal with China.

His words reveal what this is really all about – Huawei is being used as leverage in America’s trade war against China. In Norway, too, the Americans are working on their campaign against Huawei.

The US is locked in a struggle over who gets to control two technologies: artificial intelligence and the next generation of wireless services, like 5G. So far, the US has not managed to produce any evidence that Chinese 5G technology poses a security risk, and Huawei is now taking legal steps against the American administration as a result of the way it has been treated.

Even if Europe opts for Ericsson or Nokia, it will still use Chinese 5G products. All technology companies have one thing in common – much of their equipment is produced in Chinese factories.

Why the price of Europe following the US’ Huawei boycott may be far too high

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}There may be no way to exclude China from the process of building wireless networks, and there is definitely none without setting 5G development back significantly

There may be no way to exclude China from the process of building wireless networks, and there is definitely none without setting 5G development back significantly