Telecom tycoon Sunil Mittal on Thursday came out in strong defence of Huawei arguing that its products were "leading edge" and "superior" to rivals and advocated that the firm should be in the play even as the US government has flagged "genuine security issues" around the Chinese telecom gear maker.
The US asserted that its opposition to the Chinese company was not about protectionism but "genuine security risks" that go beyond the front end equipment, percolating to even areas like upgrades and maintenance.
Speaking at the India Economic Summit here, Mittal, the Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, however, backed Huawei's technology prowess to the hilt saying the company over the last 10 or 12 years has become "extremely good" with its products.
"...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.
Stating that he had been surprised by the Huawei's technological edge, Mittal noted that the Chinese company had been able to take its products to a level where it was leading edge.
"... the power consumption is a fraction of 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 I don't know," the Indian telecom czar said.
The US has barred its companies from working with Huawei, a leading telecom gear supplier, due to concerns over security and intellectual property.
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India is yet to take a call on whether it intends to place curbs on Huawei or allow the firm to participate in 5G trials.
India will take US' advisory carefully, Mittal said but added in the same breath that New Delhi will have to decide on its relationship with China.
Asked specifically about his views on Huawei and which way India should lean, Mittal said, "my view is that they should be in play. I really feel they should be in play. India must use this as leverage..."
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