Huawei Technologies Co (華為), facing a widening global crackdown on its telecom equipment, is bolstering its presence at the industry’s biggest conference in an attempt to land deals. Its plans risk being foiled by a powerful foe: the US government.
US officials are also increasing the size of their delegation to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month, saying they want to help other nations focus on the security of next-generation mobile gear. They are not calling the meeting a showdown with Huawei, but that agenda — provided by three officials who asked not to be identified — is a not-so-veiled reference to their concerns about the Chinese tech giant over espionage allegations and sanctions busting.
The US team plans to advocate for other providers of next-generation mobile gear, such as Cisco Systems Inc, Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj, according to one of the officials. The effort comes amid an intensified campaign by US President Donald Trump’s administration in Europe, Shenzhen-based Huawei’s biggest market outside China, where governments in the UK, Germany, France and other places are weighing whether to restrict its gear from 5G networks.
The US’ focus on Huawei has extended from its equipment to charges it stole intellectual property and violated sanctions on exports to Iran, in an escalation of tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
Huawei has denied wrongdoing and long maintained it does not provide back doors for the Chinese government, pointing out that no one has provided evidence to support such concerns.
The Mobile World Congress is a key annual event that has helped Huawei — a major sponsor of the gathering — burnish its reputation as the dominant telecom equipment supplier. Huawei signed several deals last year, including one with France’s Bouygues Telecom to make Bordeaux the first city for a 5G network trial and one with BT Group PLC to do more joint 5G testing.
“We are continuing to grow at MWC,” Huawei spokesman Adam Mynott said by phone. “This remains our most important trade function of the year.”
This year, Huawei is to unveil a foldable 5G phone, demonstrate how the technology works in a joint presentation with Vodafone Group PLC, and make executives available to network with journalists, politicians and clients. About 100,000 people are expected to attend the four-day conference that starts on Feb. 25, to see the latest phones, artificial intelligence gadgets and autonomous drones exhibited by about 2,000 companies.
Guo Ping (郭平), Huawei’s rotating chairman, and Richard Yu (余承東), chief executive officer of its consumer division, face a prominent US lineup. State Department staff are to be joined by high-ranking officials including US Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Manisha Singh and Brian Bulatao, a former CIA executive nominated as undersecretary of state for management by Trump, one of the officials said.
The US wants to convey its conviction that security of 5G networks is paramount because the technology is crucial as the world digitizes, independent of an individual supplier, another official said.
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