Huawei’s UK ambitions have been clear since 2003, says GlobalData

Huawei, at the centre of controversy over the UK’s 5G network, has not become a leading telecom equipment provider to the UK overnight. It has been steadily increasing its involvement in UK technology infrastructure for nearly 20 years.

David Bicknell, principal analyst for the GlobalData Thematic Research Team, comments:

 “Huawei’s importance to the UK’s critical national infrastructure is nothing new. It has been working on government projects since 2003 and hired the country’s top IT specialist, John Suffolk, in 2011.

“Soon after joining Huawei, Suffolk wrote a white paper that sought to rebut allegations that the company had direct links to the Chinese state.It did not dispel the suspicions that surrounded Huawei at the time and distrust has only deepened since then.

‘’However, the company has become so deeply embedded into the UK’s telecoms market over the last two decades that the government is willing to risk a public confrontation with a major ally rather than excluding Huawei from work on the UK’s 5G network.”

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