Blocked in U.S., Huawei finds a better climate for network gear biz in Canada

Huawei is essentially persona non grata in the U.S. network infrastructure market, at least for major deals with Tier 1 carriers. That's because U.S. lawmakers and government agencies think the company could be used as a front for Chinese espionage, an allegation the vendor has always vehemently denied. 

However, north of the border in Canada, Huawei has found more favor for its network gear business. As Bloomberg Businessweek notes, Huawei provides 3G and LTE network equipment to Bell Canada and Telus, two of Canada's three Tier 1 carriers. Huawei also provides all of the gear for Saskatchewan Telecommunications' LTE network, a regional carrier owned by the provincial government. SaskTel also uses Huawei for network services.

Until recently, the Chinese vendor's Canadian strategy was "to maintain a relatively low profile," Scott Bradley, Huawei Canada's vice president for corporate and government affairs, told Bloomberg Businessweek. "Recognizing that we had challenges in the United States, we weren't in a position to aggressively build a consumer brand" in Canada--but that's changing, Bradley said. Article