Fast-growing Chinese vendor Huawei has complained that unfounded national security concerns in India are jeopardising its future success there, according to a report in the Financial Times (FT). Huawei is currently bidding for some of a US$1.7 billion GSM network contract to be awarded by state-owned operator BSNL. However, recent Indian media reports have suggested that giving contracts to Huawei would constitute a national security risk because of the company’s alleged Chinese military background (the two countries have had a turbulent relationship). The FT report notes that Huawei is a privately-held company and claims to be mainly owned by its employees, with founder Ren Zhengfei owning less than two percent. The report adds that Ren is a former officer of the People’s Liberation Army, and this, combined with the fact that Huawei does not publish details of its shareholding structure, has fuelled speculation that the company has close links with the Chinese military. Huawei has previously rejected such claims. In today’s FT report, Huawei’s Vikas Dewan, India sales head, said: “As we are getting big enough to trouble our biggest competitors, there are allegations emerging similar to those we faced in the US.”

The FT report notes that India is an important market for Huawei, generating US$2 billion of the vendor’s US$18.3 billion global revenues last year. According to research firm Dell’Oro Group, Huawei enjoyed an extremely strong first quarter of 2009, roughly doubling its share of the global mobile network equipment market to 15 percent. This put it in third-place, behind western rivals Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.