Faced with the choice between losing a significant chunk of its EU RAN market share and making small concessions, Huawei chose the latter and is now allowing more open communication with other vendors' equipment.
Huawei has now agreed to open the relevant interface between configuration management and other parts, according to a telco source close to the matter. The Chinese company declined to comment, but the decision is unsurprising. Configuration management accounts for a negligible share of RAN product sales and Huawei's alternative would have been to face complete eviction from Germany's 5G infrastructure. [1]
Is this a victory for the EU and Germany? Not so much, as it once more proves how difficult it is to get rid of Chinese equipment. It is currently not economically sustainable to replace all the Huawei equipment in the telecommunications network.
Trump's hostility toward China could suggest the O-RAN Alliance might steer away from any potential collaboration with Huawei to avoid angering its North American partners.
Yet the Alliance is global, so what if Huawei uses this situation to show its willingness to cooperate, but with the deliberate aim of destabilizing the relationship between the O-RAN Alliance and the US?
Despite this, President Trump’s administration – like Biden’s before him – appears keen on Open RAN even though there is no major American vendor that can support the push, only Nordic champions like Ericsson and Nokia and American specialists such as Mavenir.
This has led the Financial Times to openly wonder whether the Trump administration would resurrect a plan from 2020 to take a “controlling stake” in Ericsson, Nokia or both, so that the U.S. could instantly barge its way onto the RAN infrastructure scene by buying its way in. [2]
Why do you think you're right?
Faced with the choice between losing a significant chunk of its EU RAN market share and making small concessions, Huawei chose the latter and is now allowing more open communication with other vendors' equipment.
Is this a victory for the EU and Germany? Not so much, as it once more proves how difficult it is to get rid of Chinese equipment. It is currently not economically sustainable to replace all the Huawei equipment in the telecommunications network.
[1] German telcos pool efforts to retain more 'open' Huawei
Why might you be wrong?
What if?
Trump's hostility toward China could suggest the O-RAN Alliance might steer away from any potential collaboration with Huawei to avoid angering its North American partners.
Yet the Alliance is global, so what if Huawei uses this situation to show its willingness to cooperate, but with the deliberate aim of destabilizing the relationship between the O-RAN Alliance and the US?
[2] Trump likes O-RAN, even as Dell'Oro says multi-vendor dream is fading