On the backdrop of its US ban, China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has on its own turn up the heat on American wireless mobile carriers.
This time around, Huawei has just targeted of America’s largest wireless companies.
The Chinese telecoms giant has just demanded that Verizon Communications Inc. pays about $1 billion in patent fees for over 200 patents on network equipments used by the American company.
Reuters reported that the companies involved in the payment are ’20 of the company’s vendors including major U.S. tech firms but those vendors would indemnify Verizon.’
Huawei has declined to comment on the matter.
However, Verizon spokesman Rich Young declined to comment “regarding this specific issue because it’s a potential legal matter.”
Young hinted that the matter is a further escalation in the US-China trade war
“These issues are larger than just Verizon. Given the broader geopolitical context, any issue involving Huawei has implications for our entire industry and also raise national and international concerns,” he said.
The US government’s ban on Huawei could further see more escalation as more carriers are restricted from doing business with company.
