China′s Huawei signs deal to develop 5G network in Russia

Huawei, the Chinese technology company considered a security threat by the US, has signed a deal with Russian telecoms company MTS to develop a 5G network in the country over the next year.

Huawei welcomes agreement was signed on the sidelines of a meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The deal will see “the development of 5G technologies and the pilot launch of fifth-generation networks in 2019-2020”, MTS said in a statement on Wednesday.

Quoted in the statement, Huawei’s Guo Ping, one of the company’s chairmen on rotation, said he was “very happy” with the agreement “in an area of strategic importance like 5G”.

Huawei has been in turmoil since May, when the Trump administration banned US companies from selling high-tech equipment to Huawei over suspicions it was spying for Beijing.

Several companies have already distanced themselves from Huawei, including Google, whose Android system equips the vast majority of smartphones in the world.

Huawei’s reported potential involvement in Britain’s 5G network has proved politically sensitive and Theresa May’s government insists no decision has been made on the issue.