US Attorney General William Barr is proposing a novel way to stop Chinese vendor Huawei from dominating the future of mobile communications: On Thursday, he suggested the US should get into the business of making 5G networks.
In a speech, Barr said the US government should consider buying a “controlling stake” in Nokia or Ericsson, two European companies that are competing against Huawei in the 5G market.
“Putting our large market and financial muscle behind one or both of these firms would make it a more formidable competitor and eliminate concerns over its staying power,” he said.
“We and our closest allies certainly need to be actively considering this approach.”
Another way for the US to invest would be creating a consortium of American companies to buy a stake in Nokia or Ericsson.
For Barr, the main priority is to create a trusted and competitive alternative to Huawei as soon as possible.
“What we need today is a product that can win contracts right now — a proven infrastructure that network operators will make a long-term commitment to today.
In other words, we need a product that can blunt and turnaround Huawei’s momentum currently,” he added.
Barr made the statement as the US has been trying to block Huawei from selling the company’s 5G technologies to countries across the globe.
The faster 5G networks promise to increase data transfer speeds for all kinds of gadgets, including smartphones, VR headsets, drones, wearables, along with cars and home internet.
It’s also why the US is so wary of Huawei supplying 5G networks to the world’s telecommunication carriers.
White House officials are worried Huawei could one day secretly backdoor the company’s telecommunication products so the Chinese government would be able to spy on anyone.
(Huawei denies this could ever occur.)
Despite the White House’s warnings, the UK last month decided to permit Huawei to supply the country’s 5G network under certain restrictions.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has opposed banning Huawei from building the country’s 5G networks.
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In his speech on Thursday, Barr acknowledged it wouldn’t be easy to stop other countries from using Huawei’s technology without supplying a competitive alternative.
“It's all very well to tell our friends and allies that they shouldn't install Huawei, but whose infrastructure are they going to install?” he said.
According to Barr, the solution is to prop up Nokia and Ericsson.
“They have quality, reliable products that can guarantee performance.
They have proven successful in managing customers’ migration from 4G to 5G.
The main concern about these suppliers is that they have neither Huawei’s scale nor the backing of a powerful country with a large market, like China,” he added.
Ericsson declined to comment.
Nokia did not immediately respond.
