Even with all of the pressure which Brazil is currently getting from the US, the country has stood by its decision of refusing to ban Huawei from operating a fifth-generation (5G) mobile telecoms network in Latin America’s largest economy.
The Vice President of Brazil, Hamilton Mourao in a statement with some journalists on Friday, said that there was no distrust of the Chinese company within the Brazilian government and the country needs the telecom technology which the company has to offer. There were rumors that in a chat between Mourao and Huawei’s Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei on a trip to China last month, they had discussed that the country isn’t planning to bar the company when its 5G network gets launched next year.
Earlier last month, the US government banned companies from the country from doing business with foreign bodies which were considered security risk, and although it didn’t single out Huawei, the commerce department included it in its so-called entity list. This severely restricted the companies access to components from the US.
The US government also advised its close allies to abstain from doing business with the company and so far, New Zealand and Australia have made statements saying that Huawei is not fit to take part in building their 5G networks. The Japanese government also made a statement last year saying that it will ban government purchases of equipment from Huawei. We are yet to hear anything from the German or British government telling which side they are on, though Huawei Global Cyber Security, and Privacy Officer, John Suffolk appeared before the British Parliament to answer questions concerning 5G security.
In a statement by French cyber security Agency, it hinted that it will not allow Huawei to access users’ location data even though the company’s equipment is involved in the rollout of France’s 5G network. This means that the country might employ Huawei’s technologies in some areas but not in areas involving key data such as users’ locations and encryption keys.
In Russia, however, Huawei has made a deal with the top mobile network in the country to roll out 5G technology. It is expected to commence testing later this year.
