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Huawei bids for Sprint Nextel deal
09 July 2010
Huawei is bidding to sell kit to Sprint, say reports from the US, but government authorities may step in to block the deal
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Sprint
Huawei
US
Committee on Foreign Investment
China
Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies is seeking to secure a US deal, according to reports. It is bidding to sell equipment needed for the expansion of the wireless broadband network of Sprint Nextel.
If the bid is approved, it will be the first time Huawei has sold equipment to a large US telecoms operator, though it has made sales to smaller US companies.
Huawei, which is also a mobile phones maker, was forced in 2008 to call off a joint $2.2 billion bid for US technology firm 3Com over security concerns. The US government is apparently concerned that the company may be used by the Chinese for economic espionage on the country’s communications network.
Under US law, an inter-agency panel, called the Committee on Foreign Investment, can prevent takeovers of sensitive US assets by foreigners on national security grounds.
A few foreign takeovers have escaped the committee’s scrutiny — such as Deutsche Telekom’s purchase of Voicestream, now T-Mobile USA, a decade ago. GTB