The Brazilian Vice President, Hamilton Mourão, has spoken in support for Huawei, sparking a controversy. The official stated that the cost of 5G networking in the region will significantly rise if the Chinese tech giant is banned from providing its telecom equipment for the newer and faster bandwidth.
Earlier this week, the Vice President attended an industry event held by the São Paulo Trade Association where he revealed an estimate provided by the Brazilian telecommunications agency Anatel, which reported that gear from Huawei represents about 40 percent of the 3G and 4G infrastructure in the country. So, Mourão issued a warning that outright banning the company will have various additional costs, as per a ZDNet report.
Editor’s Pick: OPPO Reno5 5G and Reno5 Pro 5G launched in China with Snapdragon and MediaTek processors respectively
Mourão stated that, “If Huawei can’t supply the [5G] equipment, the cost will be a lot higher.” He further added that an infrastructure review will incur additional costs that would have to relayed to the consumers as well. The Vice President even went on to talk about the Brazil 5G auction that was set to take place in March 2020, but has since been postponed to 2021. Mourão noted that any company that “demonstrate respect to [Brazil’s] sovereignty, privacy and cost efficiency” will be able to carry out operations in the nation.
However, increasing pressures from the US and the Trump administration to ban the Chinese tech giant last year, after the US President met the Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro. The Vice President believes that Brazil “can’t miss out on the 5G opportunity” and that the government should not interfere with Chinese company’s activities as long as the firm creates local jobs and complies with the local laws.
UP NEXT: Redmi GM speaks on the future of in display fingerprint, faster charging tech, and more
Comments