Huawei presents equipment to Nigerian varsity as UK bans firm’s 5G tools September 2021

*Chinese telecom company Huawei says the equipment will be applied to train students in intermediate and advanced technologies in routing, switching and cybersecurity

*UK says it will ban the installation of 5G equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies Co. by end of September 2021

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Chinese telecom company Huawei has donated telecommunication equipment to the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), in Zaria, Kaduna State of Nigeria, as part of a partnership to stimulate the learning of information and communication technology in the West African country.

Huawei in a statement Sunday, November 29 said the equipment, which was inaugurated Saturday by Chen Yangfeng, Director of Enterprise Delivery and Service of Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited, would be utilised to train students in intermediate and advanced technologies in routing, switching and cybersecurity.

According to the company, the equipment are comprised of 3 Huawei AR6280 routers and 5 Huawei S5720 switches for designing physical and logical topologies.

Yangfeng stated that the relationship between the ABU Zaria and the global ICT firm dated way back to 2018.

In 2018, the Director of Enterprise Delivery and Service of Huawei Technologies Nigeria noted that the university and Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a partnership on the Huawei Authorised Information Network Academy (HAINA) program and other corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Kabir Bala, Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, at the inauguration ceremony, appreciated Huawei’s support in a statement since the signing of the MoU and expressed satisfaction with the outcomes so far recorded.

The Vice-Chancellor said more than 800 enrollments had been made and 350 persons were certified in different certificate tracks in the HAINA programme.

Creating and maintaining a strong ICT base would enhance the discovery of ICT talents, skills acquisition, opportunities and promote industry certifications, stated Bala.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

In a related development, the United Kingdom (UK) has revealed it will ban the installation of 5G equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies Co. by the end of September 2021.

The restriction, which first reported last Monday, is part of a 250 million-pound ($333 million) package of measures brought in to diversify Britain’s wireless supply chain announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Agency report says the stricter rules may also help fend off a challenge from lawmakers in the ruling Conservative Party seeking tighter restrictions on the Chinese network equipment maker.

British ministers announced in July that Shenzhen-based Huawei would be totally banned from Britain’s next-generation mobile networks in 2027, with purchases barred from January 2021.

To comply with those rules, phone companies would have had to stop adding Huawei components eventually, but the new ban may accelerate their plans to overhaul systems. Maintaining existing equipment will be allowed, according to report.