Huawei Introduces Advanced Telecom Technology to Uzbekistan

By staff reporter JIAO FENG

Since entering Uzbekistan in 1999, Huawei has grown into the country’s biggest supplier of telecommunications equipment. Not only has Huawei introduced 3G technology to Uzbekistan, in cooperation with a local telecom operator, it has also deployed the country’s first LTE (Long Term Evolution) network. After moving its Central Asian headquarters to Uzbekistan, Huawei expanded its business and brought advanced telecom technology to the host country, which has improved Uzbekistan’s overall technological level and local economic development.

A senior employee of Huawei in Uzbekistan, who has worked at Huawei since his graduation from college, is very proud to work for the China-based company, and satisfied with the liberal pay and benefits there.

Advanced Technology Promoting Local Economic Development

Huawei is now a world leader in networking and telecommunications equipment & services. When it was founded in 1987, the private firm had just RMB 21,000 in startup capital. However, over the following decades Huawei seized the historical opportunities brought by China’s opening-up. In 1996, the company began to venture into the global market, first into Russia in 1997, followed by India in 1998, the Middle East and Africa in 2000, Southeast Asia and Europe in 2001, and then the U.S. in 2002. Huawei now operates in more than 170 countries and regions.

Uzbekistan has a relatively backward information industry and limited technology. Until the early 21st century, it had no manufacturers of telecom equipment. When it entered the country in 1999, Huawei began providing such products as CDMA and GSM devices, switches, transmitters and other equipment used in intelligent networks to Uzbek phone and mobile companies. It also helped renovate and upgrade the country’s telecom network.

As it enters the information era, Uzbekistan is facing the challenges of population increase and imbalanced development. Educational improvements are lagging in certain areas because the country’s 100 colleges and 1,500 middle schools are unable to share resources efficiently. In 2013, in cooperation with Huawei, the Uzbek government successfully deployed a long-distance education system extending videoconferencing services to 80 educational institutions and 117 stations. This innovative model of education makes it possible to share teaching resources nationwide, lifting the country’s quality of education and improving communications efficiency between educational authorities and schools.

Thanks to its technological advantages, Huawei continues to introduce new technologies to Uzbekistan. In 2004, it built the country’s first commercial NGN network, followed in 2007 by a 3G network, the first in the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 2011, Huawei exported 4G USB modems to Russian mobile phone operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), which later expanded the 4G network to cover all of Uzbekistan.

Currently Huawei has over 300 employees in Uzbekistan, said Wu Fei, the company’s PR manager in Tashkent, of whom 75 percent are locals. Most of its subcontractors are also Uzbek companies. Huawei’s business expansion in Uzbekistan has raised employement and improved the country’s level of information technology, promoting local development.