Narayan AmmachchiThe Dominican Republic has banned Huawei from building its 5G networks, with the Caribbean country’s new President choosing to take side with the US government.
As a result of the ban, the Chinese equipment maker cannot continue upgrading the Caribbean country’s telecom networks.
The announcement coincides with the arrival of Keith Krach, the US Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment, who is touring Latin America as part of the ‘Clean Network’ initiative.
“Our position on foreign policy is to be on the side of a strategic alliance with the United States,” reported Caribbean news outlets quoting the country’s President Luis Abinader.
The Dominican Republic, which is set to auction 5G spectrum early next year, has not made it clear as to who will assist it in building the new generation network in absence of Huawei.
The Caribbean country will be the second nation in the region to award 5G radio waves after Chile.
The ‘Clean Network’ initiative is designed to keep Huawei of telecom markets in the West, but many countries in Latin America are heavily dependent on the Chinese firm to build their 5G networks.
Krach has also visited Brazil on his way ahead, and reports say that Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro government may also toe the line of the US administration.
“We want to develop a deployment plan for 5G technology and broadband that is unprecedented in our history, a level leap towards hyper-connectivity that will change the future of our country,” Abinader said recently.
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