U.S. government working with Microsoft and others for developing 5G alternative to Huawei

Huawei is currently the leader in the 5G infrastructure market and it delivers better technology at a better price than its rivals which includes Nokia and Ericsson. Apart from Huawei’s home market China, several countries including Germany have adopted Huawei’s 5G infrastructure. Due to potential security risks, the US government has banned Huawei from supplying 5G infrastructure to the US telecom network. In order to make up for this move, the U.S. government is now working with Microsoft, Dell, AT&T, and others to develop a 5G alternative to Huawei.

Microsoft, Dell, and others are not developing 5G infrastructure hardware. Instead, they are developing a common engineering standard that would allow 5G software developers to run code atop machines that come from nearly any 5G hardware manufacturer. They are developing software and cloud capabilities that will replace a lot of the 5G equipment which is supplied by Huawei.

Andy Purdy, Huawei’s chief U.S. security officer, commented on the following when he heard about the U.S. government’s plans.

“If the U.S. wants 5G hardware and software developed by a U.S. or European company, the government should encourage companies to begin negotiations with Huawei to license our 5G technology,” Mr. Purdy said, adding that without the company’s intellectual property, “the combined product will be 1-2 years behind the comparable Huawei products in terms of functionality and assurance.”

U.S. government is also pushing more countries to adopt its new software-based 5G infrastructure solution and avoid using Huawei’s equipment.

Source: WSJ