Huawei’s efforts to appease security concerns in the US appear to be paying off, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the Chinese vendor is a finalist for a LTE contract deployment with number six operator US Cellular, and is also in talks with US agencies to build the country’s first nationwide public-safety network.
A final decision on the US Cellular contract is expected in the next few weeks, with Huawei facing competition for the deal from Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent. Meanwhile, Huawei plans to bid on public-safety network deals in the US and the vendor is already working with the US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology to test its LTE technology for use in public-safety networks.
Huawei’s US troubles have been well documented. There are domestic concerns around the company’s alleged links to the Chinese military, its attitude to intellectual property rights, claims that it is unfairly supported by the Chinese state, and allegations that it represents a threat to US national security.
In February Huawei was moved to publish and open letter attempting to address these suspicions.
Certainly, success with either the US Cellular LTE or public-safety deal would be a huge fillip for the vendor, as it has so far only closed smaller deals in North America with Clearwire and Cox Communications.
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