Pompeo warns EU on Huawei citing Samsung as alternative
STOCKHOLM/WASHINGTON (dpa) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned European nations against allowing Chinese tech giants like Huawei to build their 5G networks, ahead of a key European Union ministers’ meeting this week.
The message dovetailed with a statement from Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications giant, which said that it, like Huawei, also has the capacity to supply 5G networks in Europe.
“It’s critical that European countries not give control of their critical infrastructure to Chinese tech giants like Huawei, or ZTE,” Pompeo said in an opinion article he penned for the website Politico.
“It’s urgent that trustworthy companies build these 21st-century information arteries,” he wrote. He said Beijing could force a company like Huawei to hand over private and sensitive data, and also alleged the firm has links to the Chinese military.
“European companies like Ericsson and Nokia produce high-quality, price-competitive 5G equipment, as does the South Korean company Samsung,” Pompeo opined.
Fredrik Jejdling, who heads Ericsson’s mainstay Business Area Networks division, told dpa that Ericsson has already supplied 23 live 5G networks, as he argued for a larger role for his company going forward. “Ericsson has a broad portfolio of 5G products that we are delivering to customers on all continents,” he said. “As a global company, we stand ready to supply to customers in all markets,” he added.