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Will The State Controlled Huawei and their success in Canada, open U.S. doors?
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., a telecommunications giant that is one of China's few multinational corporate success stories, opened a Canadian headquarters and research lab in Markham, Ont., on Tuesday. The company has grown to about 100,000 global employees by undercutting traditional equipment makers, such as Telefon AB LM Ericsson, and scoring major network contracts around the world, including one for the shared national wireless network for BCE and Telus.
Some think Huawei's Canadian success could help dispel anxiety in the much more valuable U.S. market, where there are concerns about espionage and Huawei's links to the Chinese government and military [PLA]. For example, Sprint Nextel Corp., which provides telecom services to the U.S. government, excluded Huawei from a multibillion-dollar contract last fall after a group of senators wrote a public letter to Obama administration officials. Here, Huawei Canada president Sean Yang talks about the company's progress.
Why set up shop in Markham?
We launched preparations for Huawei Canada back in the year 2007. … Canada is a very important market for Huawei, globally. Canada has a very strong heritage of technology innovation. We really want to improve our understanding of Canada, of North American technology.
Was building the new wireless network for Bell and Telus a milestone for Huawei?
Exactly. We treated this as a very significant milestone in Canada, the cornerstone of our business in Canada. Also, this is a very important milestone for North America. This network is very, very advanced technology.
Huawei was always known as the cheap alternative to established network builders, such as Ericsson. How has that reputation evolved over time?
This is a kind of misunderstanding about Huawei. People might have these kind of misconceptions about "Made in China." But from day one, we have been using the best technologies. We're using the best people to develop the product. If you're talking about price, you're right. But cost-effective doesn't mean cheap.
There have been concerns, especially in the United States, about Huawei's potential links to the Chinese government. Is this holding back Huawei's international growth?
That is just a misunderstanding. We are a private company. We have no connections to the Chinese government, with the Chinese military. Some of the misunderstanding may come from the competition, right? We really hope we can have better communication.
How different is Canada's telecom landscape now compared with when you first entered North America?
For Canada, it's a very open country. It's very easy to develop business here. We got very strong support from governments, from local operators and from local communities.
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