NEW DELHI: CH technology giant Huawei said on Tuesday that is had deployed India’s first artificial intelligence-based pre-5G technology on the Vodafone Idea network, even as the firm’s participation in the 5G trial run remains unclear. Huawei also showcased a variety of 5G-enabled applications across different sectors in the ongoing Indian Mobile Congress.
The government is still studying allegations of Chinese espionage against Huawei and is expected to take a call soon.
Earlier this year, China urged India to make an “independent judgement” about Huawei’s operations in the country, without being guided by the US ban on the Chinese telecom giant’s products, and grant an “unbiased and non-discriminatory” environment to Chinese businesses.
The firm recently said that if the company was banned in India, the country’s roll-out of 5G services would be delayed by 2-3 years.
On Monday, it said it was willing to sign a no-backdoor pact with India.
India is under pressure from the US to avoid using Chinese 5G infrastructure and is unwilling to allow Huawei into 5G backbone infrastructure. Telecom firms in India have used Huawei’s services to build previous generation infrastructure.
Besides having advised India to shun Huawei as it could pose a security risk, the US administration has also written to the Indian government warning that any Indian company found supplying equipment or products of American origin to Huawei or its associate companies would face action.
India, like many other countries using Chinese power and telecom gear for its basic infrastructure, has a long history of suspicion of the cheap buys. There have been allegations that these could be remotely controlled from a Chinese site. These have prompted India to set up labs to test Chinese and western-manufactured equipment in these two critical sectors.
India has approved a one-year 5G trial period for entities, except Huawei, seeking experimental spectrum to conduct trials.
Telecoms Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the government will hold an airwaves auction for 5G services before March.