Enterprise
US is calling Huawei, ZTE a national security threat
The odds aren’t in China’s favor
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) designated Huawei and ZTE as a national security threat. This doesn’t come as a surprise since the US has been trying to sideline the two Chinese telecom equipment companies for months.
However, with the new designation comes a flood of bad news for the two companies. The action means carriers won’t be able to use money from federal subsidies to buy or maintain equipment from the two companies. While the US has actively tried to reduce its dependence on Huawei or ZTE gear, the latest announcement is an indication of escalation.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said on Tuesday that “untrustworthy equipment” continues to remain a part of US telecom infrastructure. He asked Congress to allocate funding to replace the remaining equipment.
Three state-controlled telecom operators — China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks Corp, are also on the grinding block. FCC is considering termination of its authorization to operate.
Huawei is combatting issues on multiple fronts at the moment. The US has lobbied allied countries to avoid Huawei or ZTE technology. Furthermore, Huawei is barred from transacting with American counterparts like Google. Its consumer smartphone division has come to a startling halt since the phones can’t run the full capabilities of Android via Google Mobile Services.
ZTE too has been out of luck. In 2018, US President Donald Trump had said that of the two vendors, ZTE could continue trading after paying a fine of US$ 1.3 billion, and providing “high-level security guarantees.” However, the latest designation again puts the company in an impossible spot.
For the longest time, Google kept Pixel and Android behind two different teams. While the Pixel team dealt with devices made by and for the brand, the Android team ships a product meant for brands outside of the company’s purview. However, the days of separation are at an end. Google is officially merging its Pixel and Android teams together.
In a shocking announcement, the company has confirmed that the teams handling hardware and software will fall under a single team headed by Rick Osterloh. Prior to the merge, Osterloh was the senior vice president of devices and service, which was Google’s hardware branch. He will now oversee both hardware and software.
Because of the new leadership change, Hiroshi Lockheimer, former head of Android, will now move on to other projects within Alphabet. Of note, the change is not harsh for Lockheimer. He and Osterloh had been contemplating on the merge for a while.
Now, why the change? As is the case with everything today, it’s all because of AI. Speaking to The Verge, Osterloh explains that the merge will help with “full-stack innovation.” With how technology is these days, it’s now impossible to develop AI without having a close eye on hardware, such as in Google’s AI developments for the Pixel camera. Merging the teams will help streamline development, especially when hardware is involved.
Despite the change, outside brands, like Qualcomm’s Cristiano Amon, remains confident of Android’s capabilities outside of Google. Just expect more AI coming out in the near future.
The ongoing trade war between the United States and China is putting a lot of companies out of business in one country. While all eyes are currently on America’s crusade against TikTok, China has launched a salvo of its own. The country has started banning AMD and Intel, starting with government devices.
Recently, as reported by the Financial Times, China has introduced a new rule that bans American chipsets and servers from government agencies. The new ban includes AMD, Intel, and Microsoft Windows.
In lieu of the now-banned brands, Chinese government agencies must use approved brands from a list of 18 Chinese manufacturers. Unsurprisingly, the list includes Huawei, another brand involved in the ongoing trade war. (Huawei is still banned on American soil.)
As with bans from America, China’s latest rules stem from a desire to implement national security. Both countries allege that using brands from the opposing side will open a potential avenue for transferring classified information.
Currently, the ban against the American chipsets are only affecting government devices. However, if it follows the same trajectory as Huawei and TikTok in the United States, a government-only ban might soon lead to an all-out ban on consumer devices. As TikTok is currently hanging in the balance, it’s unlikely that the trade wars will cool down anytime soon.
So far, Apple’s greatest enemy has been the European Union. Months and months of claiming that the company engages in anti-competitive practices, the region has successfully caused Apple to drastically change a lot of things about the iPhone including the Lightning cable. Now, a new challenger wants Apple to answer for its supposed grip on the industry: the United States government.
Today, the Department of Justice is officially suing Apple for supposedly monopolizing the smartphone industry and stifling competition. The lawsuit alleges that Apple’s lineup of products prevent users from trying out other brands. For example, Apple limits how well a third-party smartwatch works on an iPhone, pushing users to go for an Apple Watch instead.
The lawsuit also includes an important pain point in Apple’s fight in Europe. It says that the company makes it difficult for iPhone users to communicate with Android users (and vice versa). Late last year, the company already committed to supporting RCS as a messaging standard, finally easing communication between the two systems. Their adoption has yet to arrive, though.
Though not as stringent as Europe, the American government is no slouch when it comes to questioning its own companies for pursuing anti-competitive practices. In the past, it went through Google and Spotify to protect the interests of its citizens. The lawsuit against Apple is no different, gathering signatures from sixteen states.
For Apple’s part, the company aims to get the case dismissed, alleging the lawsuit’s unfair scope of just the American people when it targets the entire world.
SEE ALSO: Apple opens first Developer Center in Southeast Asia
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