U.S. offers Brazil funding to buy 5G gear from Huawei rivals
The U.S. government is prepared to help finance in telecom
companies in Brazil and other countries to acquire fifth-generation technology
that is not provided by “untrusted” Chinese companies, its top diplomat in
Brazil said on Tuesday.
Ambassador Todd Chapman said Ericsson, Nokia Oyj and Samsung
were companies that have successfully provided “appropriate” 5G technology that
adequately protects information, data flows and intellectual property.
The funding would come from the U.S. International
Development Finance Corporation (DFC), a government agency that provides
financing for private development projects, he said.
Chapman told correspondents in a virtual briefing that
China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world’s largest telecoms equipment
maker, was not to be trusted as a partner in building out 5G networks around
the world.
Huawei did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Huawei has consolidated its presence in Brazil over the last
20 years and local telecoms operators have already tested its 5G technology and
built significant parts of their backbone infrastructure using Chinese
equipment.
Huawei has successfully conducted 5G tests with major
carriers - Telefonica Brasil SA, TIM Participacoes SA , America Movil’s Claro
and Oi SA - and is helping them modernize their infrastructure ahead of a
long-awaited 5G spectrum auction.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has urged
governments worldwide, including Brazil, to shun Huawei because of spying
concerns.
Chapman has publicly warned in Brazil that including Chinese
companies in the country’s 5G deployment could discourage investments by other
foreign companies that do not trust the technology, and his message is getting
through.
“More and more are understanding the challenges to the
Brazilian economy moving forward should it choose to move further with 5G
implementation using these untrusted providers,” Chapman said.
“We are simply alerting our friends and allies in Brazil
that we have those concerns shared by many countries around the world that such
technology is not the way to go,” he said.
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