At the inauguration of the 5G zone in Moscow, the CEO of Russia's branch of Huawei Zhao Lei praised the company's activities in the country. A source in Russia's 5G research community said Huawei is the biggest investor in the development of mobile technologies in Russia, with "the largest research laboratory of all operators" in Moscow.
According to the Vedomosti business daily, Huawei currently employs 400 people in Moscow and 150 in Saint Petersburg in mobile research and development. It aims to employ 500 more people by the end of 2019 and 1,000 more over five years. Experts said Russia's welcome of Huawei does not mean the Chinese company is alone in the race for developing 5G in Russia.
"Russian operators are all collaborating with multiple 5G equipment vendors, Huawei included. We do not see any clear 5G leaders in the network deployment in Russia," said Michela Landoni, an analyst at Fitch Solutions. She said operators prefer this approach to avoid being "reliant on one specific vendor" and to protect themselves against cyber threats. The Tele2 operator was the first to launch 5G in Russia with Sweden's Ericsson in August, on Moscow's main Tverskaya street.
In the midst of a trade war and technological rivalry with China, the US has threatened to cut Huawei's access to the US components and services it needs, such as the Android operating system that the company uses on its phones. Russia then promptly stepped in to offer its Aurora operating system to the Chinese group. If Android remains Huawei's preferred choice, Landoni said Aurora could be a "short-term solution" for the group. According to the analyst, Aurora could become a "stepping stone" in the development for Huawei's own OS.
According to Sylvain Chevallier, a partner at the technology consulting firm BearingPoint, the aim is "to create an economic front against the US." Russia and China, he said, are trying to break away from the US monopoly over smartphone operating systems. As for the espionage risks Washington has warned of, Russia is hardly worried.