Huawei is exploring a way to share its technology with other companies in India as a de facto ban on Chinese telecom gear manufacturers may be looming, the Economic Times reports. "We are looking for a local partner and for commercial reasons, we don’t want to disclose any details," Huawei India CEO David Li told the publication. A tech sharing agreement or joint venture could theoretically allow Huawei to make money off its technology in India despite a ban on sourcing equipment from the company. Airtel announced a Rs 300 crore contract award to Huawei, so it's not like the Chinese firm is entirely out of work in India. But the government is said to be considering a list of approved vendors for telecom infrastructure. Such a list would almost certainly spell doom for companies like Huawei and ZTE, as the government has been taking steps against the inclusion of their technology in Indian telcos' infrastructure. The most significant such move in an official sense so far has been the cancellation of BSNL's 4G tender, which was redrawn to discourage Chinese firms' participation. ET reports that informal pressure on telcos to avoid Chinese tech is underway as well, and such pressures could escalate soon. Also read DoT Committee Recommends That BSNL 4G Core Be Indian, With Source Code Audits In Parting Shot, Trump Admin Revokes Huawei Supplier Licenses
