UAE Telecom Company Du Exonerates Huawei ; Says It Sees No Evidence Of Security Loopholes

United Arab Emirates Telecoms gioant DU says it sees no evidence of security concerns about Huawei’s 5G technology. DU chief technological officer Saleem Albalooshi told Reuters on Sunday.

“Huawei is our partner in rolling out our 5G network. From a security perspective, we have our own labs in the UAE and we visit their labs. We have not seen any evidence that there are security holes specifically in 5G,” Albalooshi said.

The Trump led administration had in March placed Huawei technologies in an entity list, banning it from business dealing with American suppliers. The government championed a campaign urging its allies against using the Chinese company’s equipment which it says poses a security risk.

Huawei technologies has repeatedly denied the US allegations, which were raised earlier this month during a visit by Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, all of which use Huawei equipment. The Chinese firm had debunked claims of having ties with the military and Beijing. This, however, did not stop the trade war with US.

When asked about US threat, that it will stop intelligence-sharing with nations that use Huawei equipment, Albooshi said it was a concern.

“Of course, this is definitely a concern, but such a thing is the government’s decision. We follow our government’s decision. We follow our government’s roads and we are governed by regulators,” he said.

The Chinese telecom has emerged a central figure in the worsening trade war that continues to escalate. It has been a back and forth movement with tax increment and an eventual ban. However, it continues to report strong business in the Middle East despite US efforts to curtail its growth through trade restrictions and lobbying of government.

Despite the ban of Google’s Android on Huawei smartphones, the phone maker still maintained second place globally, with Apple sliding to fourth position in the smartphone market.

US tech company Apple has suffered the most from the trade war. With its industries in China, it will continue to lose customers if they can’t splurge a fortune to purchase the smartphone whose price continues to surge as a result of the tax implemented by the Trump administration. Currently, Apple is struggling to fight off local competitors Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi In China as they offer customers upgraded options at cheaper prices.

Analysts think that Apple will struggle further in mid-2020 due to its lack of 5G cellular support in the new iPhone 11 family series, as opposed to China’s smartphone players which are focused on the technology upgrade.