Huawei, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Altice Portugal and China Broadband Development Alliance jointly launched the fifth-generation fixed network (F5G) industry initiative on Tuesday, a move an expert said will isolate US companies.
The new organization is inviting global fixed network industry players, both upstream and downstream companies, to join the F5G industry organization, to drive development in the fixed network industry, read a press release from Huawei.
Xiang Ligang, a veteran telecoms industry analyst in Beijing, told China´s State-owned newspaper Global Times on Tuesday that the move will result in more US firms in the telecommunications industry becoming isolated and left behind in 5G development.
“Already having lost advantages in 4G and 5G networks, US companies will feel more pain if the Trump administration continues to suppress Huawei by cutting technology communications between it and US firms,” Xiang said.
F5G, corresponding to wireless 5G networks, features full-fiber connection, ultra-high bandwidth, and an ultimate experience. Fibers will connect not only homes, but also more vertical industries such as enterprises, transportation, security, and campuses.
David Wang, Huawei’s executive director of the board, said that a thriving industry must be built on comprehensive standards and an ecosystem, while the proposed F5G marks the perfect time to create a comprehensive optical industry ecosystem.
Huawei Wireless Product Line vice president Gan Bin said Tuesday that 200,000 5G bases have been built in China, and the total number is expected to reach 800,000 by the end of 2020, covering 340 cities across China.
Huawei, which needs semiconductors for its smartphones and telecoms equipment, has found itself at the heart of a battle for global technological dominance between the US and China, whose relationship has soured in recent months over the origins of the deadly coronavirus.
This week, Huawei Technologies in its first official response to the Trump administration’s move to curb its access to global chip supplies called it “arbitrary” and said its business would be impacted. “We expect that our business will inevitably be affected. We will try all we can to seek a solution,” Chairman Guo Ping said in his keynote speech at Huawei’s annual global analyst summit on Monday.
Guo said Huawei was committed to complying with US rules and it had significantly increased research and development, and inventory to meet US pressures.
Last week’s move by the US Commerce Department expands US authority to require licences for sales to Huawei of semiconductors made abroad with US technology, vastly extending its reach to halt sales to the world’s second-most popular smartphone maker. The company was added to the Commerce Department’s “entity list” a year ago due to national security concerns, amid accusations from Washington that it violated US sanctions on Iran and can spy on customers. Huawei has denied the allegations.
Guo said that Huawei spent $18.7bn buying from US suppliers last year and would continue to buy from them if the US government would allow it. He said customers have stood by the company, but acknowledged it had become harder to win contracts since the company was added to the entity list.
