Quick hits: December 2019

uawei’s struggles to maintain legitimacy and trustworthiness in the Western world continue. Telegeography reports that the governments of Estonia and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding to restrict the use of the Chinese firm’s equipment in the continuing rollout of the Baltic nation’s 5G network. That is not to say the besieged company doesn’t have its own allies and opportunities, as the same source says they have inked a deal with Telekom Malaysia to develop the country’s 5G infrastructure. ven as Huawei’s struggles continue, they are still a major contributor to economies around the globe. According to a study by Oxford Economics, Huawei contributed 12.8 million euros to the European Union’s overall GDP in 2018 and is directly or indirectly responsible for over 169,000 jobs on the continent.

n other, non-Huawei related news, the BT (British Telecom) Group reports a 1% year-on-year decline in revenue for the half-year ending September 30, per Telegeography, assigning blame to ‘the impact of regulation, declines in legacy products and strategically reducing low margin business’.

pple, surprisingly, seems to be another victim in the US-China trade war. Bloomberg says the firm is seeking duty relief to the tune of $110 billion for parts imported from China. This is not the first time Apple has made such a request to the US Trade Representative’s office; Apple has been granted some leeway on duty fees in the past depending on whether or not parts could be acquired from other countries.

n Poland, 5G is expanding in profile. Orange has begun testing 5G in the eastern city of Lublin, says Telecompaper, while T-Mobile has launched an indoor 5G pilot at the hub:raum Innovation Centre in Krakow.