Chinese Footprint in India's Neighbourhood : Telecommunication Sector

Chinese telecommunication firms played a dominant role in India’s telecommunication sector, which had serious strategic, geopolitical and economic implications for India. Huawei is the single largest player in the telecom landscape of the region with presence across network equipment-wired and wireless, mobile handset and telecom service markets. Huawei, thus, stands in a better position to push through Chinese interests in the region’s access to telecommunication networks and data that passes through them, execute Digital Silk road projects under One Belt One Road initiative, enhance ‘Brand China’ among the locals etc.

Huawei’s strategic links with local telecom service providers (TSP) and political leadership in the region was explicit, given the fact that Huawei inked agreements for rolling out of 5G services in five countries in the region (except Nepal and Afghanistan) while commercially rolling out 5G services in Maldives since Aug’ 19. Also, Huawei maintains deep presence in all the seven countries in the region through laying extensive fibre optic cable networks.

Huawei gained indirect access to database of consumers of Myanmar through supply of SIM card registration software to local TSPs. With gradual penetration of cloud services market in the region, Huawei may gain access to more and more data from the countries in South Asia. Chinese mobile handset firms are gaining inroads in the region at a faster pace with Huawei being a major player and new players like Xiaomi, Oppo/Vivo increasing their presence. However, Samsung and Apple continue to retain the major share in the region.

Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) couldn’t gain significant inroads in South Asia beyond Pakistan where it was deployed in both military and civilian sectors while also hosting BDS ground stations (along with Sri Lanka)-Continuously Operating Reference Stations. Though BDS footprint includes countries like Myanmar and Maldives, extensive deployment like GPS is still far from reality.

Huawei and ZTE together dominate the telecom gear landscape of the region. The near monopoly status enjoyed by the duo will enable them to influence, may even dictate, the public policies on telecommunication in their favour. Chinese firms may use their market privilege to their favour by deploying their 5G and other technological solutions in the region to enhance their ability to standardise their products at a global scale.

Despite the recent pushback against Huawei, none of the TSPs other than Telenor Pakistan was interested to diversify their telecom equipment procurement strategy. The operational manoeuvrability of TSPs in the region to diversify with new equipment suppliers is highly limited, given the complete dominance by Huawei/ZTE.  With the use of 5G across the industrial segments and the demand for 5G services among the domestic consumers yet to mature, the TSPs of these countries signing up with Huawei for launch of 5G in their respective countries may end up benefitting China and Huawei more than the host countries.

References:

Amy Nordrum, June’17, “Afghan Wireless launched the first 4G LTE service” https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/wireless/afghan-wireless-launches-first-4g-lte-network-in-afghanistan

Bangladesh Post, Mar’20, “ZTE is working on the Telecommunication Network Modernization Project”, https://bangladeshpost.net/posts/zte-is-working-on-the-telecommunication-network-modernization-project-27599

Comms Update, Aug’19, “Dhiraagu switches on 5G in the Maldives”, https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2019/08/05/dhiraagu-switches-on-5g-in-the-maldives/

Comms Update, June’13, “Huawei chosen for Myanmar rollout” https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2013/06/19/huawei-chosen-for-myanmar-rollout/

Daily Mirror, Mar’19, “SLT-Huawei to partner for Colombo Port City’s Smart City project”, http://www.dailymirror.lk/business-news/SLT-Huawei-to-partner-for-Colombo-Port-City%E2%80%99s-Smart-City-Project/273-164496

Damithri Munasinghe, June’19, “My Way or the Huawei: Global Battle for 5G Dominance and its Impact on Sri Lanka” https://www.ips.lk/talkingeconomics/2019/06/12/my-way-or-the-huawei-global-battle-for-5g-dominance-and-its-impact-on-sri-lanka/

Economic Times, Apr’17, “China's BeiDou GPS system to expand co-op to S Lanka, Southeast Asia” https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/chinas-beidou-gps-system-to-expand-co-op-to-s-lanka-southeast-asia/articleshow/57964185.cms

Faisal Saeed, Apr’19, “Huawei to establish its first cloud center in Pakistan, CEO meets PM Khan”, https://www.techjuice.pk/huawei-to-establish-its-first-cloud-center-in-pakistan-ceo-meets-pm-khan/

Himalayan News Service, Oct’19, “Nepal Telecom’s 4G expansion to gather momentum”, https://thehimalayantimes.com/business/nts-4g-expansion-to-gather-momentum/

James Middleton, Aug’06, “ZTE expands Sri Lanka CDMA network” https://telecoms.com/3157/zte-expands-sri-lanka-cdma-network/

Jerry Wang ShibU, Jan’20, “The enormous possibilities of 5G”, https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/op-ed/2020/01/17/the-enormous-possibilities-of-5g

Manoj Kumar, July’19, “Nepal's CG Group ties up with Huawei to launch 4G services”, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nepal-telecom-huawei/nepals-cg-group-ties-up-with-huawei-to-launch-4g-services-idUSKCN1TW2II

Matt Walker, Aug’19, “5G Challenges and Opportunities in Pakistan – A Perspective” https://www.mtnconsulting.biz/5g-challenges-and-opportunities-in-pakistan-a-perspective/

Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) (June’15) “Presentation by MCIT on Afghan Fiber Optic Ring” https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Presentation%20by%20MCIT%20On%20fiber%20connectivity%20in%20Afghanistan.pdf

Myanmar Insider, Sep’19, “Mytel Unveils Its 5G Network for the First Time” https://www.myanmarinsider.com/mytel-unveils-its-5g-network-for-the-first-time/

P.W Singer & Taylor A. Lee, Mar’20, “China’s version of GPS is almost complete. Here’s what that means”, https://www.popsci.com/story/blogs/eastern-arsenal/beidou-china-gps-gnss/

ProPakistani, Jan’19, “Zong 4G and Huawei Partner to Use AI & Big Data to Improve Network”, https://propakistani.pk/2019/02/07/zong-4g-and-huawei-partner-to-use-ai-big-data-to-improve-network-connectivity/?

Radio Free Asia, Oct’19, “Myanmar sticks with Huawei for telecoms buildout despite China concerns”, https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/myanmar-sticks-with-huawei-10022019163928.html

Ramananda Sengupta, Jan’18, “China builds cross-border optical fibre link to Kathmandu”, https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2018/jan/14/china-builds-cross-border-optical-fibre-link-to-kathmandu-1753184.html

Saima Ibrahim, Sep’14, “Ollo Contracts ZTE for LTE Rollout; Over 1,100 Base Stations Planned”, https://www.3gca.org/ollo-contracts-zte-lte-rollout-1100-base-stations-planned/

ShareSansar news service, May’20, “Xiaomi becomes number one smartphone brand in Nepal; consolidates its market leadership in just over one year of business”, https://www.sharesansar.com/newsdetail/xiaomi-becomes-number-one-smartphone-brand-in-nepal-consolidates-its-market-leadership-in-just-over-one-year-of-business

Tha Lun Zaung Htet, July’13, “MPT, China Unicom Plan International Cable to Boost Internet Connectivity”, https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/mpt-china-unicom-plan-international-cable-to-boost-internet-connectivity.html

The Daily Start, July’20, “Huawei Bangladesh provides digital solutions to high schools for distance learning”, https://www.thedailystar.net/bytes/news/huawei-bangladesh-provides-digital-solutions-high-schools-distance-learning-1928549

The Star, July’20, “Interview: Huawei Myanmar will continue to play important role in the country's ICT sector”, https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanplus-news/2020/07/20/interview-huawei-myanmar-will-continue-to-play-important-role-in-the-country039s-ict-sector

Vaughan O'grady, Feb’20, “Submarine cable link planned between Maldives and Sri Lanka”, https://www.developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/optical-fixed-networks/9224-submarine-cable-link-planned-between-maldives-and-sri-lanka.html

Yogesh Gautam, July’19, “Status of mobile vendor market share in Nepal”, https://www.everestparked.com/post/status-of-mobile-vendor-market-share-in-nepal