Huawei Technologies South Africa said on Monday its daily operations would not be affected by the exclusion of the company’s access to several global standards-setting bodies in the wake of a ban by the US government.
Reports during the weekend said Huawei had suffered another blow after industry bodies shunned it while the firm’s partnership with UK chip maker ARM was suspended due to the US ban.
ARM, which employs 6,000 workers, instructed employees to halt “all active contracts, support entitlements and any pending engagements” with Huawei and its subsidiaries to comply with the US trade clampdown.
Huawei South Africa spokesperson Vanashree Govender said production and supply chains had been complying with all applicable laws and regulations and it was business as usual for the company.
“Recently, a handful of standards and industry organisations have put some aspects of collaboration with Huawei on hold in response to political pressure,” Govender said.
“We are disappointed by these decisions, but they will not have an effect on our daily operations. We will continue to provide our customers with top-quality products and services.”
She said ARM was reviewing and evaluating the impact of the US commerce department’s decision and was actively communicating with the government.
“We completely understand and support them. Recently, many of our partners have chosen to stick with us and weather this storm together. We are immensely grateful for this,” Govender said.
Huawei was an active member of over 400 standards organisations, industry alliances and open source communities, where it served in more than 400 key positions, she said.
“We proactively contribute to these groups, and over the years we have submitted nearly 60,000 proposals. Currently, our work with the majority of standards organisations proceeds as usual,” said Govender.
“Moving forward, we will keep doing our part and work with standards and industry organisations to build a robust industry ecosystem for everyone, and ensure the healthy development of our industry.”
The Wi-Fi Alliance, which sets the standards for wireless technology, has “temporarily restricted” Huawei’s participation in activities covered by the US blacklist of Huawei.
Huawei has voluntarily decided to withdraw its membership from JEDEC State Technology Association, an independent semiconductor engineering trade organisation and standardisation body which sets semiconductor standards.
Govender said the company had not violated the articles of association for any of these organisations and yet a small group of them had decided to suspend collaboration without any legal basis.
“Their actions go against the very principles that they purport to hold, and undermine their credibility as international organisations. Ultimately, decisions like this will result in fragmented standards, including fragmentation in information and communications standards, and will only serve to drive up costs and risks for everyone along the value chain,” she said.
“We believe that these actions do not represent the will of the industry. Despite setbacks like this, we are confident that the ICT industry will enjoy long-term, sustainable development.”
