FCC chief: Banning Huawei protects 5G

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said keeping mobile networks, especially 5G, secure and reliable is a major priority and the U.S. is gearing up in order to deter any company or entity posing a potential threat.

“At the FCC and across the United States government we want to make sure that our networks, especially our next generation 5G networks are secure and reliable,” he told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo during an exclusive interview on Friday regarding whether the U.S. should be partnering with Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

“We do have concerns about any company, any entity that may have to comply with requests from the intelligence services of a foreign country.”

Huawei is reportedly looking to bring its 5G chips to the U.S. through a partnership with Apple, one of its biggest rivals. While Apple has not shown interest, a potential ban, proposed by the FCC, would block Huawei from using its technology in U.S. 5G networks.

Huawei has been sued in the past by a number of U.S. tech companies, including Cisco, Motorola Solution, T-Mobile and Microsoft for allegedly stealing trade secrets. 

In China, 90 percent of people are using the Microsoft operating system, though only 1 percent are actually paying for it, Steve Ballmer, former Microsoft CEO, told FOX Business last year. He also accused them of ripping off the company to the tune of $10 billion.

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However Huawei’ Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy, defended the company, in March, explaining that the company isn’t owned by the Chinese government.

Despite this Pai said he is concerned about having equipment or services that come from companies that have been determined to present a national security threat.

“I think from our perspective we have to think very seriously about what types of equipment and services we include in our networks here,” he said.

In addition the FCC is also working with global counterparts to emphasize to them the importance of securing these networks.