China-EU 5G research project to continue despite growing concerns about Huawei
- The joint project will go ahead as planned despite the Chinese tech giant’s involvement
- Huawei has faced a growing backlash across the West due to security fears
A 5G collaboration project between the European Union and China is going ahead as planned, despite calls to ban Chinese telecoms companies from the EU network, according to the head of the European side of the project.
Uwe Herzog, coordinator of the 5G-Drive project, said: “The basis for our collaboration is the research collaboration framework agreed between the EU and China, which continues to be valid and honoured by both sides.
“Thus, we are not concerned that the 5G-Drive project and its research collaboration with its Chinese twin project will be affected by current political discussions on 5G deployment.”
The 20-month project, part of the EU’s €80 billion (US$91 billion) research programme Horizon 2020, is designed to test and validate the interoperability of the European and Chinese 5G networks.
The Chinese side of the project is coordinated by China Mobile, with project partners including Huawei. The project will focus on sites in Italy, Finland and Britain, and five in China – Hangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, Suzhou and Guangzhou.
The European side is being led by the German-based telecommunications research and development firm Eurescom and involves 17 partners from 11 countries, including industry, mobile operators, BMW, SMEs, research institutes, academia and consulting partners.