NEXT GENERATION
Firm will cede some ownership of intellectual property to local universities
Huawei is increasing Canadian staff by 20% and investing more cash into 5G R&D,
Huawei Technologies Co. said it would hire 200 new employees and increase research and development spending in Canada as the Chinese firm attempts to counter U.S. efforts to pressure allies to abandon its equipment over security concerns.
Canadian authorities are conducting a security review of its telecommunications networks, with a specific focus on Huawei’s role in the next-generation 5G mobile networks. The review won’t be finished for months, according to people familiar with the matter.
Government officials have declined to comment on the status of the review, other than saying its findings will be released in due course, without elaborating. Huawei Chairman Liang Hua said Thursday cybersecurity is a global problem that requires clearly defined rules and greater cooperation between governments and manufacturers.
Huawei said it would increase spending in Canada by 15% from C$180 million ($136.5 million) and add the new employees to its research and development team.
Canada has been at the center of the fight over Huawei since it detained the company’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request. U.S. federal prose- cutors have accused Ms. Meng and Huawei of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran and stealing trade secrets from a U.S. business partner. Ms. Meng and the company have denied wrongdoing.
Huawei is a dominant supplier of wireless telecommunications equipment in Canada and it currently has nearly 1,000 employees based there. It also funds research partnerships with a variety of the country’s universities, which give the Chinese company control of the intellectual property. Huawei said Thursday it would cede more ownership of intellectual property produced by its university partners. Canadian telecommunications companies BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. are lobbying the government to continue to allow Huawei to supply equipment, people familiar with the matter said.
If Huawei is banned from the wireless network, it could cost BCE and Telus billions of dollars to rip out and replace existing Chinese gear, likely delaying the country’s planned 5G service and triggering additional costs for network consumers, people familiar with the matter said.