Telecommunication services leaders Huawei and ZTE cannot be trusted and should be barred from operating in the United States as they pose security risks, according to a report released by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence reveals.
The report further stated that Huawei and ZTE, both powerful telecommunications firms in Africa, could pose a “risk to internal security as they are involved in the manufacture of electronic components such as electric power grids for banking and finance systems, gas, oil and water systems and rail and shipping.”
Responding to the report, Huawei’s senior vice president Charles Ding said: “Huawei has not and will not jeopardize our global commercial success nor the integrity of our customers’ networks for any third party, government or otherwise.”
In Africa, Huawei rolled out services in Kenya as one of its first African destinations in 1998 and is now the leading CDMA product provider in the region.The marketing strategy in the continent was to focus on cheap but high-quality mobile network. In 2006, African sales had reached US$2 billion across 40 countries.
Huawei’s IDEOS smartphones were introduced in the Kenyan market in 2010 and sold 130,000 pieces in the country in a year.
Huawei CEO Herman He said: “The phenomenal sales witnessed are as a result of intensive marketing campaign on the multimedia offering that comes with a Smart Phone. The rapid technological changes and increased mobile internet use across the globe has also led to the high demand and uptake for Smart Phones.”
“Through this Huawei has ensured that everyone has access to smart phones at a reasonable price while ensuring they are user friendly.”
According to Huawei, it hopes to tap into the Nigerian mobile market with Smartphone estimating a 35 percent increment in sales. Nigeria has more than 100 million mobile subscribers and is ranked as the leading market in Africa. Yet, according to Informa Telecoms reports, only some 7 percent of the subscribers use smartphones
Commenting on the report by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S.-based Cricket Communications said it uses network gear from multiple vendors with the majority not from Huawei.
It added that it has systems which monitor its network and identify intrusions.
Established in 1988, China-based Huawei Technologies offers networking and telecommunications equipment and services. It is ranked as the second largest supplier of MobileTelecommunications equipments across the world.
