Globe to keep partnership with Huawei for 5G rollout

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. will continue to provide the equipment needs of Globe Telecom Inc. for the rollout of its 5G network, the Ayala-led telco said Thursday.

"Right now I think we'll be keeping it that way," Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu told reporters on the sidelines of the Bloomberg Industry 4.0 forum in Taguig City.

His remarks come after US President Donald Trump last week barred Huawei from the US market, adding the Chinese company to a list which would restrict US sales to the firm, amid trade tensions between the two countries and the biggest economies of the world.

"We have already been preparing for this," Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei was quoted as saying in a report by Agence France-Presse.

Alphabet Inc.'s Google on Monday was also reported by Reuters to have suspended business with Huawei, which requires the transfer of hardware, software, and technical services expect those publicly available via open source licensing.

Cu in February said issues regarding Huawei have not had any significant impact on the business of the company, even amid trade Sino-US trade tensions.

"I believe on the network side, Huawei is really pretty much independent—when it comes to the cell site equipment, network equipment," said Cu.

In the same interview, Cu said they continue to be in close coordination with Huawei officials.

"We've been in conversations with them, given the amount of concentration that we have with Huawei equipment," he said, noting that Huawei devices already out on the market will not be affected by the recent developments.

"We’ve been assured by both Google and Huawei that the current handsets that have been already licensed by Google already in production in market will be safe. Pretty much they will go and remain status quo throughout the life of the device. Just use whatever Google services had been on the device until you throw the device away," he explained.

Cu added that Globe plans to tap Nokia for its 5G rollout in the Visayas and Mindanao. — BM, GMA News