US Senators have warned that the deal signed in South Korea by Chinese telecommunications major Huawei Technologies to develop the country’s broadband network could be a ‘security concern’.
Writing to the President Barrack Obama administration, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Robert Menendez, raised concerns over the ‘potential security concerns’ for the US,
They also pressed that ‘maintaining the integrity of telecommunications infrastructure’ was vital to the coalition, as there have been worries in Washington over Huawei’s links the Chinese government and military.
Both said in a letter: "Maintaining the integrity of telecommunications infrastructure is critical to the operational effectiveness of this important security alliance."
In 2011, the US terminated a deal with Huawei from developing the US wireless network for emergency responders, over alleged national-security concerns, while Australia also did not allow a Huawei unit to vie for contracts associated to the broadband network last year.
Huawei spokesman Scott Sykes said that the company’s gear is world-proven and trusted, connecting almost one-third of the world’s population.
"The motivations of those that might groundlessly purport otherwise are puzzling," Sykes said.
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Huawei was also banned to acquire patents from small US firm 3 Leaf, while also forced Japan’s SoftBank to limit the deployment of the Chinese firm’s technology in exchange for acquiring a US carrier.
Last year, the US firms were also advised not to collaborate with Huawei and ZTE, while however, Huawei strike back at the US House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee who considered it as a security threat.
