Telecom network solution provider Huawei of China has said that it is keen to address the security concerns of India in a transparent way.
Expressing its willingness to contribute to the deployment of 3G technology in the Indian telecom space, A. Sethu Raman, Executive Director (Product & Solution), Huawei Telecommunications (India) Co. Pvt. Ltd., told The Hindu that the Chinese major “is keen to work together with all stakeholders in addressing these concerns.”
“We were not told of security concerns directly,” he said. The communication of the government was only to the mobile operators. They had been told to take an approval from the Department of Telecommunication for equipment purchase so as to mitigate security concerns, he added.
Mr. Sethu Raman said “We acknowledge these concerns”. Huawei was open to inspection or audit of its facilities or the equipment either by the agencies of the Indian Government or by any third party or by both.
Huawei, he said, was a long-term player. The company was committed to continue its investment in the region, he added. It had been investing about $200 million every year since it came into India 10 years ago. In this context, Rajeev Weimin Yao, Vice-President (Corporate Affairs), pointed out that the company's R&D (research and development) set up in India was its biggest outside China, employing around 2,000 people. Huawei has 17 R&D centres across the globe employing over 40,000 people.
Mr. Sethu Raman said that “India is a very important market for us.” The company's global revenue stood at around $30 billion in 2009. Revenue from India was $2.45 billion, he added.
Mr. Yao said Huawei had already held multiple-level engagements with the Indian Government authorities and placed all relevant data and information pertaining to the company. Huawei would seek to mitigate all the security-related concerns by being transparent, Mr. Sethu Raman reiterated.
He insisted that Huawei had been conforming to all standards prescribed by ITU (International Telecom Union) including those related to security aspects. He also pointed out that top service providers in the world such as BT, Vodafone and Telstra had a tough process for picking any vendor as a preferred partner. Huawei had been their preferred partner for multiple technology, he pointed out. Mr. Sethu Raman also said how elsewhere in other geographies Huawei had been working with third party agencies such as Electronic Warfare Association in testing and auditing spheres to clear the security-related concerns.
Mr. Sethu Raman said Huawei was keen for a contributory role in 3G space by providing end-to-end solutions by its clear focus on three areas — time-to-market, return on investment and smooth technology migra- tion.
