US should buy control of Nokia, Ericsson to fight Huawei: Attorney General Barr
Barr wants the United States to take controlling stakes in Nokia and Ericsson, creating a state corporation able to battle Chinese telecoms giant Huawei’s dominance of the 5G market.
“From a national security standpoint, if the industrial internet becomes dependent upon Chinese technology, China would have the ability to shut countries off from technology and equipment upon which their consumers and industries depend (and will) dominate the opportunities arising from a stunning range of emerging technologies….. There are only two companies that can compete with Huawei right now: Nokia and Ericsson,. Putting our large market and financial muscle behind one or both of these firms would make it a far more formidable competitor and eliminate concerns over its staying power.” William Barr speaking at a conference on China’s security threat at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Barr, is not new t this battle. He spent 14 years as top executive of US telecommunications companies GTE and Verizon before leading the Justice Department. For its part, Huawei said on Tuesday that it would set up manufacturing hubs in Europe “so that we can truly have 5G for Europe made in Europe.”
The ohso socialist countries of Europe, are taking a more free-market approach. Britain and the EU plan to limit use of Huawei equipment and software to benefit Nokia and Ericsson. For example, the Nordic companies won contracts with one of Europe’s largest mobile operators, Orange, for its French 5G infrastructure. Orange has previously deployed Huawei systems in Spain and other countries. Shares in Ericsson were up 1.6 percent at 79.2 Swedish kronor when the Stockholm stock exchange closed on Thursday just about the time Barr was giving his remarks.
Ericsson’s two biggest shareholders are Swedish investment companies Investor and Industrivarden.
Nokia shares closed earlier on the Helsinki stock exchange up 2.3 percent at 3.7 euros. Nokia’s largest shareholder is state-owned holding company Solidium.