Huawei Technologies is a finalist for a contract to build a LTE network for US Cellular, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. In addition, Huawei says it is in talks with federal, state and local government agencies to provide wireless technology to build the US's first nationwide public-safety network. On 4 April, several US lawmakers sent a letter to President Barack Obama, asking the government to seek a "permanent legislative solution" to stop Huawei's efforts to sell network infrastructure equipment in the US. In addition, the letter urges the president to prevent Huawei from receiving government subsidies, and asks government agencies to disclose whether any federal funds have been used to buy products or services from Huawei. Government officials have expressed concern about Huawei's ties to the Chinese government and military and the security implications of including its equipment in critical US infrastructure. Huawei has repeatedly denied such links and has offered to open its equipment and software to third-party inspection. Referring to the legislators' letter, Bill Plummer, vice president for government affairs for Huawei USA, said that the company has been cooperating fully with the government on the issue of bidding on public-safety- network business. A few weeks ago, Huawei sent a letter to the US Department of Homeland Security to inform it of the company's intent to bid on public-safety-network business. The US Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology is already working with the company to test Huawei's LTE technology for use in public-safety networks. A final decision on the US Cellular contract is expected in the next few weeks. Other finalists are Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, two of the sources told the paper.
