Bruce Rodin, vice president of wireless networks for Bell Canada, said his company used an external cyber-security firm to conduct extensive testing of Huawei products.
"We've been doing it for about 10 years and never seen malicious code or backdoors," Rodin told Reuters, characterising the U.S. moves as an effort to protect American companies. "It's a commercial thing. They are protecting their industry," he said.
Deutsche Telekom said it cooperates with Huawei on many levels and found no evidence of security risks. "The hardware is built to Deutsche Telekom's specifications and is examined by our own security department," a spokesman said. Orange told Reuters it is cautious with Huawei "as with any supplier."
Thomas Jarzombek, a member of the German parliament and digital spokesman for Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, said that in the wake of revelations about U.S. spying by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, American tech companies were not necessarily to be trusted either.
This month, a trade mission by British Prime Minister Theresa May to China included a glowing endorsement of Huawei for its commitment to Britain.
Debates over the timing of 5G deployment will top the agenda at Mobile World Congress, Europe's biggest annual technology conference taking place next week in Barcelona. The industry is counting on the new technology to trigger a wave of growth in equipment sales and mobile services starting in 2020.
