Huawei is definitely a growing force in the world of mobile, but the United States has always been wary of it, even if the White House says Huawei isn’t spying for China.
Now there’s been a bit of funny business. According to Reuters, a close Huawei partner offered millions of dollars worth of embargoed HP equipment to Iran.
The offer was packaged in a proposal from Huawei partner Skycom to the Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran (MCI). The proposal involved expanding MCI’s subscriber billing system and included a bunch of embargoed HP equipment, to compliment HP gear the Iranian company apparently already has; the embargo is designed to prevent Iran from using such equipment for its nuclear program.
The deal never actually went down, and no products were sold, but it goes that Huawei’s interests might not be quite in line with those of the U.S. It’s also worth noting the proposal was from a partner, not Huawei itself, but Reuters reports that Huawei and Skycom seem pretty buddy-buddy. Pages of the document were marked “Huawei Confidential” and employees of the Skycom office wear Huawei badges.
This follows up an incident where ZTE, another Chinese mobile manufacturer, actually did provide embargoed HP goodies to Iran.
In a statement, Huawei instisted that:
Huawei’s business in Iran is in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations including those of the U.N., U.S. and E.U. This commitment has been carried out and followed strictly by our company. Further, we also require our partners to follow the same commitment and strictly abide by the relevant laws and regulations.
Still, you can bet this won’t make the United States government any more keen on playing with Huawei. [Reuters]