US Mike Pompeo Calls Reliance Jio as 'Clean Telcos' for rejecting China's Huawei
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Washington DC, June 26: Refusing to do business with Chinese companies like Huawei, the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lauded on Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and called it as a 'clean telecom company' of the world. The US has been pressing Britain and other European states to exclude China's Huawei from their next-generation 5G mobile networks.
Pompeo said the "tide is turning" against the company as citizens wake up to the danger of the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state. "Huawei’s deals with telecommunications operators around the world are evaporating because countries are only allowing trusted vendors in their 5G networks. Examples include the Czech Republic, Poland, Sweden, Estonia, Romania, Denmark, and Latvia. Recently, Greece agreed to use Ericsson rather than Huawei to develop its 5G infrastructure," he said.
The tide is turning toward trusted 5G vendors and away from Huawei. The world’s leading telecom companies—Telefonica, Orange, Jio, Telstra, and many more—are becoming “Clean Telcos.” They are rejecting doing business with tools of the CCP surveillance state, like Huawei.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) June 24, 2020
"Some of the largest telecom companies around the globe are also becoming 'Clean Telcos'. We’ve seen this with Orange in France, Jio in India, Telstra in Australia, SK and KT in South Korea, NTT in Japan, and O2 in the United Kingdom. A few weeks ago, the big three telecommunications companies in Canada decided to partner with Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung, because public opinion was overwhelmingly against allowing Huawei to build Canada’s 5G networks," he added.
Moreover, Huawei has filed over 3,100 patents for 5G tech and claims to have secured over 90 contracts for 5G installations globally. Despite its successes, Huawei faces significant pushback from governments in the EU, the UK, and, particularly, the U.S.
According to US National Security Adviser Robert O'Brian, Huawei can access sensitive and personal information wherever its equipment is installed and "by law, must comply with directives of the Chinese Communist Party" making networks using it vulnerable to Beijing's surveillance. They also alleged that Chinese technology firms, telecom infrastructure giant Huawei, include spying technology in its telecom equipment which allows the Chinese government to remotely spy on the countries where their technology is deployed.
The US has declared 20 Chinese companies, including Huawei and video surveillance company Hikvision, as Chinese military-controlled corporations posing a security threat to nations. They had placed both Huawei and Hikvision on a trade blacklist last year over national security concerns. The US has asked its companies to avoid doing business with Huawei and it is also encouraging its allies, including the UK and India, to look for transparent companies to upgrade their 5G networks.
Besides that, Jio is reportedly trying the 'swadeshi' route for 5G and has applied to the Department of Telecommunications for permission to carry out lab tests for the technology without third-party participation. After recent tension on the Indo-China border, India's government also has asked the state-owned telcos, BSNL and MTNL, not to use Chinese equipment. It is also considering a ban on the use of Chinese equipment by private-sector operators.