The Merger Of T-mobile And Sprint Is Expected To Pass. Is It Necessary To Ban Huawei?

On December 17, Reuters reported that the FDI Committee is expected to pass the merger of T-Mobile, the third largest telecom company in the United States, with Sprint, the fourth largest telecom company, this week, mainly because the parent companies of the two telecom companies have indicated that they are considering banning Huawei products.

The source pointed out that the U.S. government authorities are putting pressure on Germany, the largest shareholder of T-Mobile and the largest European Telecom company, to stop using Huawei products. CFIUS is currently hearing whether T-Mobile's purchase of Sprint would have an impact on national security, and people close to it point out that the use of Huawei products is part of its trial.

However, people close to the matter also pointed out that the negotiations between T-Mobile, Sprint and the U.S. government have not yet reached a final consensus, and the merger may not be recognized in the end.

Nikkei News reported Wednesday that Sprint's parent company, Softbank, has finalized a policy to remove Chinese-made base stations such as Huawei from existing 4G devices and replace them sequentially with European manufacturers Ericsson and Nokia. It is also expected that 5G base stations, which will be ready after spring 2019, will place orders with the two European manufacturers.

On December 14, Deutsche Telecom said it was reassessing its purchasing strategy after discussing the security of Chinese network equipment, but there was no evidence to reject any network suppliers.