According to Lightreading, as the dust settled on the British ban, Huawei began to shift the 5G campaign to Southeast Asia. There will be multiple product releases in the next six months. Unlike in Europe, Huawei seems to be dominant in Southeast Asia.

Despite early setbacks: Huawei’s 5G is unlikely to be deployed in Vietnam or Taiwan, and it may not be deployed in Singapore. But this large supplier seems to have penetrated into other Southeast Asian markets, including the Philippines and Thailand, long-time US allies.

In the Philippines, Huawei is preparing to conduct a thorough raid.

Image source: Globe Telecom

Globe Telecom, the operator with the largest number of subscribers in the Philippines, started using Huawei equipment to provide its 5G home broadband services last year. Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, CEO of Ayala, the parent company of Universal Telecom, said in a speech to lawmakers earlier this month that the relationship with this Chinese company is “very good.” He said: “I do think they are leaders in 5G technology and we should be allowed to use their facilities.”

The head of competitor PLDT, Manny Pangilan announced in December last year that it had selected Huawei and “a little bit” Ericsson as 5G suppliers, citing the widespread presence of Huawei in its traditional network.

The upcoming Philippine company Dito Telecommunity is a joint venture with China Telecom. Although the progress is far behind the plan, it will definitely choose Huawei and possibly ZTE. In response, the United States made concessions to the Philippines in its most recent negotiations. Deputy Secretary of the State Department Keith Krach said that the United States may provide subsidies to help telecom companies transform.

Last month, Crazy told the Philippine media that the United States and other countries or regions have “a large number of financing tools” that can help Dito Telecommunity get rid of Huawei. He said: “Because we are aware of the danger”, but did not elaborate.

In Thailand, AIS invested by market leader Singtel is expected to invest as much as 45 billion baht ($1.42 billion) in infrastructure this year. Before the bidding, Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE and Samsung had been shortlisted for all five major 5G vendors.

Neighboring Malaysia, despite the chaotic licensing procedures, there are still three operators that will cooperate with Huawei. Maxis reached a deal in October last year, Celcom has signed a memorandum of understanding for smart city projects, and U Mobile has also issued a letter of intent.

The only market that is unlikely to deploy Huawei 5G in the near future is Indonesia, the most populous country in Southeast Asia. This is because it is still in the middle of the 4G cycle and will not launch 5G in the next two or three years.