New Delhi has said it will let Chinese telecoms giant Huawei take part in trials for the rollout of 5G services in the huge Indian market, giving the firm a major boost as it battles US sanctions.

The US government has banned Huawei from working with US firms, calling it a security threat because of alleged close ties to the Chinese government. The company denies the accusation.

Washington, which also banned US companies from selling equipment to Huawei, had lobbied hard for India to freeze Huawei out of its 5G communications network.

"We have taken the decision to give 5G spectrum for trial to all the players," India's telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said late Monday.

He acknowledged that Huawei, the global leader in telecom networking equipment and a major player in India's smartphone market, would be among the companies taking part in the trials expected to start next month.

With 451 million monthly active mobile internet users, India is second behind China in the world internet users rankings, according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India.

The Indian move comes after European telecommunications operators including Norway's Telenor and Sweden's Telia passed over Huawei as a supplier for their 5G networks as intelligence agencies warned against working with the company.

Australia and Japan have also taken steps to block or restrict the firm's participation in their 5G networks.

Britain has yet to take a decision on Huawei but the company has provisionally secured 5G deals in countries such as Germany.

India's announcement came as Huawei said "survival" was its top priority after announcing 2019 sales were expected to fall short of projections as a result of US sanctions.

Revenue rose this year to a record 850 billion yuan ($121 billion), slightly lower-than forecast that chairman Eric Xu blamed on the US ban.

Related Links
Satellite-based Internet technologies

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Amazon workforce surges for holiday spree
Washington (AFP) Dec 26, 2019
Amazon said Thursday it added some 250,000 employees to handle operations for "record" holiday sales for the online giant. The full and part-time seasonal employees were added in Amazon's "fulfillment network," the sprawling system of warehouses and delivery operations, according to the company, which now has a workforce of 750,000. "This holiday season has been better than ever thanks to our customers and employees all around the world," said chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos. Amazon, ... read more