ZTE summoned to US court for allegedly breaking trade sanctions probation

User topics

Article topics

Other stories you might like

ZTE intros 'cloud laptop' that draws just five watts of power

The catch: It hooks up to desktop-as-a-service and runs Android – so while it looks like a laptop ...

Laura Dobberstein Fri 24 Jun 2022 // 00:45 UTC

Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE has announced what it claims is the first "cloud laptop" – an Android-powered device that the consumes just five watts and links to its cloud desktop-as-a-service.
Announced this week at the partially state-owned company's 2022 Cloud Network Ecosystem Summit, the machine – model W600D – measures 325mm × 215mm × 14 mm, weighs 1.1kg and includes a 14-inch HD display, full-size keyboard, HD camera, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. An unspecified eight-core processors drives it, and a 40.42 watt-hour battery is claimed to last for eight hours.
It seems the primary purpose of this thing is to access a cloud-hosted remote desktop in which you do all or most of your work. ZTE claimed its home-grown RAP protocol ensures these remote desktops will be usable even on connections of a mere 128Kbit/sec, or with latency of 300ms and packet loss of six percent. That's quite a brag.

Continue reading
India probes ZTE and Vivo over finances, sparking Chinese protests

Clever asymmetrical economic warfare makes Beijing very uncomfortable

Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Wed 1 Jun 2022 // 05:00 UTC

India's government has reportedly started probes into the local activities of Chinese tech companies Vivo and ZTE, prompting a rebuke from China's foreign ministry.
As was the case when Indian authorities seized $725 million from Chinese gadget-maker Xiaomi, the investigations focus on possible irregular financial reporting that may amount to fraud, according to newswire Bloomberg's original report on the matter.
A Bloomberg reporter asked about the state of the investigations at the daily press conference staged by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which produces a transcript of each day's event.

Continue reading
Canada bans Huawei and ZTE from 5G networks, citing national security risks

Ban on shopping from September, rip and replace order with 2024 deadline

Laura Dobberstein Fri 20 May 2022 // 05:30 UTC

The Canadian government has joined many of its allies and banned the use of Huawei and ZTE tech in its 5G networks, as part of a new telecommunications security framework.
“The Government is committed to maximizing the social and economic benefits of 5G and access to telecommunications services writ large, but not at the expense of security,” stated the Government of Canada.
Companies using equipment or managed services from the two Chinese companies have been until 28 June 2024 to stop operating or remove the equipment.

Continue reading
Will Chinese giants defy US sanctions on Russia? We asked a ZTE whistleblower

Just look at Ericsson and ISIS, Ashley Yablon says

Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Mon 28 Mar 2022 // 07:00 UTC

If ZTE and other Chinese giants defy bans on selling American technology to Russia, it will be because they can't help but chase the revenue, says Ashley Yablon, the whistleblower whose evidence led to ZTE being fined for willfully ignoring the US ban on exports to Iran.
Yablon is a lawyer who, after working in senior roles at Huawei USA, in late 2011 became general counsel at Chinese telco kit-maker ZTE's US operations. Within months of starting the job, he encountered documentation detailing how ZTE sold its own and US-sourced technology to Iran in contravention of export bans.
ZTE asked him to defend the indefensible, and Yablon chose instead to blow the whistle. In May 2012 he told FBI agents of his experiences and let the bureau access his work laptop. The subsequent investigation led to ZTE being fined $900 million with another $300 million suspended – at the time the US government's highest-ever penalty.

Continue reading
US court allows ZTE to exit probation despite visa fraud

But judge encourages government to pursue criminal or civil charges against the company

Dan Robinson Wed 23 Mar 2022 // 13:30 UTC

Chinese telecoms kit maker ZTE is being allowed to end its five-year probation period in the US that resulted from its admission to violating trade sanctions in 2017.
This is despite the court order [PDF] stating that there was evidence that ZTE was involved in a visa fraud in bringing employees into the country.
The order, handed down by Texas district judge Ed Kinkeade on March 22, was in response to allegations that a former ZTE employee stateside had been involved in bringing Chinese nationals into the US illegally. This could potentially have led to a ruling that the firm had breached the terms of its probation and an imposition of further penalties. The court summons was covered by The Register earlier this month.

Continue reading
US carriers want to junk three times more Chinese comms kit than planned

FCC budget to rip and replace Huawei and ZTE kit was $1.9B. It received $5.6B of applications

Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Mon 7 Feb 2022 // 03:32 UTC

The United States Federal Communications Commission has revealed that carriers have applied for $5.6 billion in funding to rip and replace China-made communications kit.
The applications were made under the Secure And Trusted Communications Reimbursement Program, which offers to reimburse carriers with under ten million subscribers to ditch kit from Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE. The FCC and Congress want them to do so because the USA fears made-in-China comms kit contains backdoors that Beijing could exploit to either eavesdrop on communications or cut them off entirely.
Replacing made-in-China products with kit designed by American firms is supposed to be a route to improved national security.

Continue reading
FCC officially opens its $1.9bn purse to reimburse those ripping out and replacing Huawei, ZTE kit

You've got just over a couple of months to get your compensation requests filed

Katyanna Quach Mon 1 Nov 2021 // 22:23 UTC

The FCC is now accepting reimbursement requests from companies in the US that are ripping out and replacing their now-unwelcome Chinese Huawei and ZTE networking equipment.
Small to medium-sized companies with fewer than ten million customers can ask the American watchdog to cover the costs of removing, replacing, and disposing of the gear. Organizations have until January 14, 2022 to apply for a slice of the FCC’s $1.9bn Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.
As a reminder, in December telcos and similar outfits were strong-armed into agreeing to extract and replace Huawei and ZTE technology in their networks on the grounds of maintaining national security. US communications providers had to fall in line with this order, and dump their Chinese boxen, if they wanted to tap into the FCC's Universal Service Fund, a subsidy they pretty much all rely on. Thus, the carriers and co had little choice.

Continue reading
Q2 2022 should see networking sales boom – when payouts to replace Huawei and ZTE kit start to flow

Netadmins need not assume they can't take a break, as supply chain hassles may persist

Simon Sharwood, APAC Editor Tue 28 Sep 2021 // 06:45 UTC

How much of a national security risk does the USA think Huawei and ZTE pose?
$1.9 billion worth of risk, according to the nation's Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which has opened its "Supply Chain Reimbursement Program Filing Window" during which carriers can apply for cash in return for kicking the Chinese companies out of their networks.
As explained in the FCC's announcement of the program, the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 saw the US government dangle the dollars to cover "costs incurred in the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered communications equipment or services from their networks that pose a national security risk".

Continue reading
ZTE Axon 30 Ultra: Strong effort from an entity-lister, but your tiny child hands may struggle

What a whopper

Matthew Hughes Wed 14 Jul 2021 // 09:15 UTC

Review Most phones are compromised in some way, which makes it all too easy to overlook the good bits. An example of this would be the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, which was near perfect, except for the lack of apps.
For the ZTE Axon 30 Ultra, the downside is a real ache in the first dorsal interosseous muscle between the thumb and index finger, at least for those with paws smaller than a bear's. That's a big but for a phone that ticks lots of boxes. It looks good, it's fast, it's well polished, and it comes with a set of decent cameras. Too big to hold and that whole proposition falls apart.
Those with large mitts, however, are well-catered for. It's a flagship, but it's not priced as such. The base model starts at £649, which puts it alongside the Samsung Galaxy S20FE, but cheaper than most Android flagships like the Galaxy S21 or the OnePlus 9 Pro.

Continue reading
FCC finalizes $1.9bn compo deal for telcos forced to rip'n'replace Huawei, ZTE gear

'An unrealistic attempt to fix what isn’t broken', Big H mutters

Katyanna Quach Wed 14 Jul 2021 // 01:04 UTC

The FCC has voted to reimburse medium-sized as well as smaller American telcos strong-armed into replacing all of their Huawei and ZTE networking equipment.
The US regulator will now dish out up to $1.9bn to communications providers that have 10 million or fewer subscribers and were ordered in December to rip'n'replace the Chinese gear for national security reasons. That order applied to any provider tapping into the FCC's Universal Service Fund, a subsidy they pretty much all rely on.
Previously, telcos with two million or fewer customers were eligible for reimbursement though that directive was updated [PDF] updated on Tuesday so that larger, mainly rural carriers will be compensated too.

Continue reading