Huawei to open in Vienna its first flagship store outside of China

VIENNA (Reuters) – Huawei will open a flagship smartphone store in Vienna, its first such store outside of China, as part of a charm offensive in Europe where its future is at stake.

The world's largest producer of telecommunications equipment is under surveillance in the Western world for its relations with the Chinese government and US allegations of spying activation, while Washington has asked its allies not to use technology from Huawei.

Huawei denied these accusations several times and again did so at a press conference in Vienna on Thursday.

Joe Kelly, Vice President of Corporate Communications, said at the press conference: "No government or authority anywhere in the world has done anything that can compromise or compromise the security of customer networks. "

"If ever we are asked to do it, we will refuse," Kelly said.

Huawei has agreements with Austria's three main telecommunication groups: A1 Telekom Austria, controlled by Mexico's America Movil, T-Mobile Austria by Deutsche Telekom and Dutch (Drei Austria) by Hutchison Whampoa.

The company is ready to help them implement a 5G infrastructure for next-generation mobile networks, said the CEO of the Austrian company Huawei.

"We are more than ready to support Austria in its path to becoming a pioneer of 5G with our know-how and solutions," said Pan Yao.

Austria, lagging behind in the European Union for fast broadband connections, wants to become a pioneer of 5G in Europe. It is one of the first countries in the European Union to auction licenses. The auction results in the band 3.4 to 3.8 GHz, which will accelerate data services mainly in densely populated areas, are expected within a few weeks.

The charges against Huawei have led some Western countries to restrict the company's access to their markets and the European Union to consider proposals that could result in a de facto ban.

The Austrian Ministry of Technology reaffirmed on Thursday its willingness to accept a European position on the possible authorization of the Chinese company to equip the 5G networks.

"Our priority is to protect our networks," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Technology, adding that he was unaware of any concrete suspicions against Huawei.

Huawei, which claims to be the second largest smartphone vendor in Austria with a 28% market share, said it planned to invest in research and development in the country but did not want to invest in it. did not provide details.

He plans to open his Vienna flagship store in the summer.