Brazil joins Huawei in 5G and AI proposal

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Association for the Promotion of Brazilian Software Excellence (Softex) presented on March 1 at MWC 2022, the largest mobile technology fair in the world, held in Barcelona, Spain, two proposals for the development of 5G and artificial intelligence in Brazil – with the support of the Brazilian government and Chinese giant Huawei.

The Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology, Marcos Pontes, and the CEO of Huawei in Brazil, Sun Baocheng, made it clear that there are no conflicts between Brazil and the Chinese company.

“From my point of view, this business [controversy with 5G] is behind us,” Minister Pontes said in an interview with journalists after the event. He also confirmed that he is leaving the Ministry of Science and Technology to run for the 2022 elections as a federal deputy candidate.

In his speeches, the Minister praised Huawei’s presence in Brazil for 24 years. However, he stated that he does not know what the Ministry of Communications, which commanded the 5G auction, has to say on the same topic.

“When I was communications minister, my opinion was always to analyze the market thinking about strengthening cybersecurity,” said Pontes, who until 2020 headed the Science, Technology, and Communications portfolio. That year, President Jair Bolsonaro decided to recreate the Ministry of Communications and removed it from Pontes’ purview. The Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, did not attend the MWC.

THE CONTROVERSY INVOLVING 5G AND HUAWEI

At the time of the definitions for the 5G auction, held in November 2021, the United States even pressured Brazil to bar Chinese companies from entering the new generation internet infrastructure, accusing them of spying for the Chinese government.

However, the 5G auction, held in November 2021, was only with telecom operators.

Huawei, which produces network equipment such as servers, cables, and antennas, would not have been able to bid anyway. The auction notice did not impose any rules that would prevent operators from using Huawei’s technology.

CURRENT PARTNERSHIP

Baocheng confirmed that the company is already supplying equipment to Brazil’s three largest operators – Vivo, Claro, and Tim – the same ones that won the rights in the auction to distribute 5G throughout the country for the next few years.

“With the release [of the documents], Huawei hopes to create new opportunities for closer collaboration with the Brazilian government, academic institutions, and industries,” Baocheng said in his speech launching the initiative.

The documents presented today gather suggestions from Softex, created in partnership with researchers from public institutions in Brazil and Huawei, on how to boost the training of professionals in the country prepared to work on 5G and how to expand public and private investments in artificial intelligence, with tips on care to be taken and more strategic areas.

Besides Baocheng and Pontes, the launch also counted on the presence of Ruben Delgado, president of Softex; Carlos Nazareth Motta Martins, dean of Inatel (National Telecommunications Institute); Wally Menezes, dean of IFCE (Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of Ceará State); and Gilberto Studart, regional manager of Anatel (Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency).