No concerns over Huawei, says edotco
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is unperturbed by actions abroad against China’s tech giant Huawei, with edotco Malaysia signing a partnership agreement with Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) to deliver network solutions for mobile network operators (MNOs), a day after New Zealand blocked the Chinese group’s participation in its 5G (fifth generation) rollout, for national security reasons.
Asked whether the Western nations’ actions to avoid doing business with Huawei is a cause for concern to the group, edotco group chief regional officer Wan Zainal Adileen responded by saying that the group is a technology adopter and it wants to keep up with the technology level.
“So until such time we have (been) notified or otherwise if there is no objection from the regulator we should continue to work with whomever we believe that fits our technological requirement,” he said at a press conference yesterday.
In response to a question to clarify why edotco has chosen Huawei as its technology partner, Wan Zainal noted that the latter fits one of the group’s key principles of its business model, which is multi-tenant.
“For edotco, we have always venture out and look for new technologies to partner with. Huawei has been very proactive and forefront about their technology,” he added.
Meanwhile, Huawei’s small cell product line president Ritchie Peng, while explaining that he is not the right person to comment on the issue, highlighted that Huawei currently serves more than 100 countries for its 4G equipment. “It is safe, but nobody talks about that. This is a technology evolution, that’s it. This (5G network) is the continuous evolution from the 3G and 4G, and Huawei is one of the contributors for the 5G technology,” he added.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Huawei Technologies and edotco was signed in the presence of Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission chairman AlIshsal Ishak and communications and digital ecosystem sector chief officer Datuk Mohd Ali Hanafiah Mohd Yunus.
Under the two-year MoU, which leverages on both parties’ expertise to develop viable go-to-market strategies, commercial offerings, technical architecture as well as deployment plans, MNOs are set to benefit from a full spectrum of indoor and outdoor mobile network solutions.