Airtel's Sunil Bharti Mittal supports Huawei ahead of India's 5G race

Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal on Thursday backed Huawei saying its products are "leading edge" and "superior" to rivals, and asserted that the firm "should be in play." This comes amid the US ban on Huawei over "security issues" ahead of 5G adoption. Mittal said while speaking at the World Economic Forum in New Delhi that Huawei has become "extremely good" with its products in the past 10-12 years.

"To a point where I can safely say their products in 3G and 4G that we have experienced, are significantly superior to Ericsson and Nokia. I use all 3 of them," Mittal said.

Mittal noted Huawei had been able to take its products to a level where it was leading edge.

"The power consumption is a fraction of the Europeans, the footprint is small if you have to put it on a tower, and they have powerful leading features... They are clearly leading edge. Now, whether they compromised some American IPs (internet protocols), I don't know," he said.

Airtel working with Huawei to deploy its 5G transmission equipment

US ban on Huawei

The US has blacklisted Huawei and is now persuading its allies to block the world's largest provider of networking gear and No. 2 smartphone maker, from their new mobile networks. Speaking at the World Economic Forum here, US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said the Trump administration's opposition to the Chinese company was not about protectionism but "genuine security risks" that go beyond the front-end equipment, percolating to even areas such as upgrades and maintenance.

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'Relationship with China'

Huawei has applied for 5G trials in India. However, the government is yet to decide whether to allow Huawei to participate in the trials or not over security concerns. Huawei reportedly threatened to cease its investment in India if denied permission for 5G trials. Till date, Huawei is said to have invested 3.5 billion dollars in India's telecom infrastructure. 

Mittal said that the government will also have to decide for itself its relationship with China. Asked specifically about his views on Huawei and which way India should lean on this issue, Mittal said, "My view is that they should be in play. I really feel they should be in play. lndia must use this as leverage."

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"Unlike opening it to many other western companies our country and then having very little leverage, I would rather have this leverage today because it is an important part," Mittal said adding that the benefit of the US' pushback had been that Huawei has now opened up its technology, offering it to American firms, and may even do so for interested Indian companies.

While the US hopes countries such as India will shut their door to Huawei; for telecom services industry, it is not an easy call since switching to rivals could mean ripping out the Huawei-built 4G foundations they had planned to bolt their 5G gear onto. Meanwhile, the central government has made it clear that it will keep national interest in mind while deciding whether Chinese gear maker Huawei should be allowed to participate in 5G trials in the country.

(With PTI inputs)