Huawei opens 5G innovation centre in London
Huawei has opened the doors to its 5G innovation and experience centre in London, which the company touts will be used to promote greater collaboration with the UK 5G ecosystem as well as showcase the potential real-life impact of 5G.
"What we have opened today will enable true collaboration amongst UK businesses and technologists and showcase the huge potential of 5G applications for both the private and business sectors," said Huawei vice-president Victor Zhang.
Located in the co-working space Cocoon Global, Huawei said the centre features interactive and real-life displays. For instance, visitors have the chance to perform with their favourite bands using virtual and augmented reality.
It will also hold educational showcases that demonstrate how 5G technology can be used in areas such as smart manufacturing and healthcare.
The opening of the innovation centre follows the recent launch of its 5G research centre in Switzerland alongside Swiss telco Sunrise.
The company also opened a 5G artificial intelligence (AI) lab in Singapore to provide a test bed for AI development projects.
The UK remains undecided on the Chinese tech giant's equipment, amid bans from Australia, the United States, and Japan. Despite not yet deciding whether to ban Huawei equipment from its 5G networks, UK telcos have used the company's equipment for their rollouts of the next-generation network despite a report pointing out significant flaws in its equipment.
See also: Huawei starting 6G research in Canada, where it faces prospect of 5G ban (TechRepublic)
A recent report published by the European Commission and European Agency for Cybersecurity warned 5G would increase attack paths for state actors.
The report especially warned about relying on a single supplier, especially ones not based in the European Union.
"The increased role of software and services provided by third party suppliers in 5G networks leads to a greater exposure to a number of vulnerabilities that may derive from the risk profile of individual suppliers," the report states.
"Major security flaws, such as those deriving from poor software development processes within equipment suppliers, could make it easier for actors to maliciously insert intentional backdoors into products and make them also harder to detect. This may increase the possibility of their exploitation leading to a particularly severe and widespread negative impact."
In March this year, the board that oversees security of Huawei equipment used in UK telco networks said that technical issues with the Chinese company's engineering processes have led to new risks.
During the third quarter results, Huawei reported revenue hit 611 billion yuan, approximately $86 billion, for the third quarter, a jump of 24.4% over the same period last year.
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