The US is looking at ways to funnel money to Huawei’s European rivals, as officials warn that the Chinese company is becoming dangerously dominant in the global race for the next generation of mobile communications.
Officials in the US government have suggested issuing credit to companies such as Nokia and Ericsson to enable them to match the generous financing terms that Huawei offers to its customers, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.
The move is part of a wider push to fund a rival to the Chinese company, which is the largest telecoms equipment maker in the world, but which the US believes poses a security risk to it and its allies.
One senior government official said: “We gave up our superiority in making telecoms equipment decades ago, and now we are realising that this might not have been the best choice for national security reasons. Almost every department and agency is desperately looking right now for ways to get back into this game.”
“If we don’t, Huawei could soon be the only option for anyone wanting to roll out 5G networks.”
Another said: “This is one of the big concerns of the government right now. Everyone from the defence department, to the commerce department, to the department of homeland security, is looking at this.” The White House declined to comment.
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Huawei sells 28 per cent of the world’s telecoms equipment, according to Dell’oro, the market research company. Ericsson and Nokia are its closest rivals. Both companies declined to comment.
To the consternation of the Trump administration, there is no US group that can build the radio equipment to transfer signals between mobile phones and the towers or sites that make up the network.
Some officials believe the best way to counteract Huawei’s dominance is to make sure its rivals can match the Chinese company’s multibillion-dollar credit lines from China’s state banks that allow it to offer much longer payment terms than most of its rivals.
