The Philippines' Globe Telecom will press ahead with plans to launch 5G services powered by Huawei next quarter, despite pressure from the US government to avoid the use of Huawei equipment in 5G rollouts.
Globe plans to launch initial 5G services late in the second quarter, the Nikkei Asian Reviewreported, citing comments from the company's CEO Ernest Cu.
According to the report, Globe has determined that Huawei's 5G technology is more than a year ahead of its competitors, and the operator plans to use this advanced state to its advantage.
Globe is also in talks with Nokia on a 5G deal, because parts of its existing 4G network run on Nokia equipment.
Rival PLDT meanwhile has engaged Huawei and Ericsson for its own 5G rollouts, the report adds.
Cu said Huawei has assured the operator that the national security concerns being used by governments in some markets to ban Huawei from 5G rollouts will be found to be baseless. The company has also taken the view that it is the responsibility of the operator, and not the vendor, to assure the security of 5G networks.