Its global footprint is too wide to track however we highlight a few below.

One of the significant deals bagged by Huawei in Europe came in 2004 when British Telecom (BT) selected it as a preferred multi-service access network (MSAN) and optical transmission products supplier for its 21CN network. Johnson Hu recalls that it wasn't an easy task fulfilling BT's testing parameters, “Huawei went through an arduous process to finally qualify for the job, but this is a testament of our reliability and trustworthiness.”
However, Huawei came under fire soon after this. Rumors of Huawei's intentions to buy Marconi, a landmark electronics and information technology firm, alarmed British political conservatives. The Tories asked the British government to consider the implications for Britain's defense industry of a Chinese takeover of Marconi. In the end, Huawei didn't make an offer.

The CIS region is a significant market for Huawei as it collaborates with major CIS carriers like MTS, Vympelcom, Megaphone (GSM) and Skylink (CDMA), as well as the largest Russian fixed networks carrier Svyazinvest, and the optics networks carriers Rostelecom and Transtelecom.

Huawei's commercial sales from Middle-east and North-african region reached $446 mn in 2004, with its equipments deployed in 22 countries throughout the region. Huawei is carrying out UMTS trial networks in Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Algeria etc.

The company covers 39 countries throughout the African region (excluding N. Africa). It collaborates with leading operators in this region, including TKL, ETC, MTN, Vmobile, UTL and Globalcom, etc. It is set to cover the continent with contracts worth $442 mn to supply equipment in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

In Latin America, Huawei has hit the headlines with its plans to build the region's first UMTS Network in Uruguay.

The Dragon's Changing Face
Huawei's success makes it a poster child for China's global reach in the technology domain. The company is actively backed and supported by the Chinese government. For example, it received a $10 bn credit line from the state-owned China Development Bank and $600 mn from the Export-Import Bank of China to fund its global expansion. However pertinent questions cloud its intentions. Is the company a security menace doing Beijing's bidding?

Undoubtedly, bad press has dogged Huawei for years. Added to that is the absence of any media interaction by company's CEO and co-founder Ren Zhengfei. This hasn't helped much in dousing the speculation that the company is actually run by the Chinese Army, a claim the management repeatedly denies.

Few governments are skeptical over other Chinese companies like ZTE Corp, which are undercutting rival networking vendors on price and increasingly picking up business abroad. This is one of the reasons why Huawei and ZTE haven't been able to make a mark in the North American market. The company however denies indulging in predatory pricing, saying that the combination of technology prowess and financial efficiencies has won admirers and deals.

In 2003, it was sued by Cisco Systems for allegedly infringing the American company's software and in 2004, it came under fire when an employee was caught taking photographs of circuit boards inside Fujitsu's networking equipment at a Chicago trade show.

But despite the controversies, Huawei has been able to maintain its popularity with its corporate customers. Huawei, once accused of murky finances has roped in a well-known accounting firm KPMG for auditing its books. However, as it remains a privately held company few of its financial numbers are made public.

The company has also taken its media branding seriously and has employed leading branding company Mercer to help turn around its image. Hu shares details on this front, “We would like to be known as a global company and not merely a Chinese telecom brand. This is reflected in the fact that we have 10,000 non-Chinese employees of the total 44,000 Huawei employees worldwide. Suggestions from Mercer have helped in aligning our decision-making processes with globalisation. The company is more tolerant and we are able to align better with Western companies.”

As Huawei joins the bandwagon of other Chinese companies in the global market, question arises whether these can survive as legitimate multinationals and is Beijing backing more of a bane or a boon? While the jury is out there, its getting more than clear that Chinese firms are here to stay and cannot go unnoticed.

Malovika Rao
malovikar@cybermedia.co.in

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