Homeland Security does eto the operation

It is a low-key battle currently taking place in India: a giant contract launched by the national operator Bahrat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) to add 93 millions o lines o mobile telephony with a single network. Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Siemens... all the major world preparing or years or this case to $ 6 billion, a record. All cut into i e zones to the size o the subcontinent. At the opening o en elopes, only two candidates came out winners: the world number one, the Swedish Ericsson, who won the North and the East... And Chinese Huawei, which won all the rest, two thirds o the country.

Mild discom ort. China and the India, host country o the Dalai Lama, were there are still ew in a State o cold war, the gun to shoulder along the border. Homeland Security does eto the operation. BSNL redécoupe the country con iscating a slice o the pie rom Chinese to gi e to Swedish. Huawei inherits inally only in the global South, on the grounds that these areas ha e no sensiti e borders... Rest Western or which, according to the "Times o India" (1), it is en isaged to assign it to the second Alcatel-Lucent, arri ed ranco-American. But support or him to impro e his o ers to the le el o Huawei, become the industry standard.

It is in the telecoms o er the years. I it was policy to slow the Huawei tornado, it would ha e all won on its passage. Huawei is China, but tomorrow. More laborious production o gigantic workshops at the ser ice o the West, but own trademarks, research, ser ice and technology. Huawei, is the Chinese Google including the spectacular international growth attracts young talent such as magnets and which is used as an example throughout a country.

Like many Chinese stories in technology, that o Huawei began in the laboratories o the people o Liberation Army. The superior o icer Ren Zheng ei is researcher. In 1982, he is orced to lea e his khaki cocoon, launches into electronics and creates six years later in Shenzhen, in the suburb o Hong Kong, a small distributor o telecommunications or business equipment. In a long article on the history o the company, researchers at the Uni ersity o Wharton (2) compare the course o the society o Mao in 1935: a long and pain ul walk to work around the opponent while relying on the peasant to win power.

When it de elops its irst telephone exchange in 1993, Ren knows that the place is made in the major urban centres, especially by Western giants. He le t there ore sell its product in neglected rural areas. The same strategy he British through A rica be ore attacking Europe. He then gi es his business a hierarchical organisation, how Red Army. The group prior to the indi idual, the sacri ice be ore the per ormance, and the propaganda abo e. "Lo e our motherland, compatriots, labour is the source o our cohesi eness", proclaims proudly company.

But the ounder, any Chinese humility, you realize quickly the limits o his knowledge and his disciples to go con ront the West. Howe er, out o the Chinese countryside and yet grow, it must adopt the best practices. or him, this will be the Americans or the Organization and the Germans or the production. When the Institute SCAI cares plant and warehouses, IBM and the Hay Group consultants address the management and strategy. With two priorities: research and management o the logistics chain. Delays in deli ery, in entory, laboratories, all passed re iew. Today, almost all o the production is contracted out and more than 40 o the work orce, or 35,000 people, working in research laboratories progressi ely across the world. E en in Lannion, Brittany, opposite those o Alcatel!

inally, the company made the choice, rather bold, and will cost it expensi e in the short term, to abandon the standards space that promotes regularly the Chinese Go ernment to adopt international standards such as GSM, the CDMA in mobile. With standard products, which he also win some in ringement lawsuit and an army o paid researchers between i e and eight times cheaper than their Western counterparts, Huawei is party to conquer international markets. irst Hong Kong, then the Middle East, and black A rica. The irm comes with products to global standards and unding generously pro ided by Chinese banks. Gradually nibbling market shares, the irm established in Europe in irst to new entrants in access Internet ADSL (such as ree in rance), then in the mobile, especially through the passage o GSM to 3 G.

Now, the irm carries out three quarters o its turno er abroad, o which 40 in Europe. The marriage o the low prices and inno ation ha oc and plunges into uncertainty great tenors o the sector, already shaken by the in asion o the Cisco American on their territory. A ter entering the club o the world's our biggest with 3 G, the multinational Shenzhen relies on the uture 4 G (mobile high-speed Internet) to exceed its competitors. He said already to be the irst iling global patents in this area. Only Ericsson resists the wa e with its market share (more than 30). Huawei can there ore make a triumphant return on Chinese soil, such as Mao entering Beijing. Now, with its competitor ZTE, they share more than hal o the market or the deployment o 3 G in China, while the country intends to spend almost 60 billion o er the next three years.

Remain two spines in the oot o Huawei. The irst comes rom inside. His compatriot ZTE, which promises prices e en lower, he leads the hard li e and nibbling his ad antage, without noise. The second spine is American. Group is not more than 1 o its turno er is there. His irst attempt o alliance with its partner Cali ornian 3Com stopped net by a trial or in ringement o the Cisco competitor. Then its takeo er attempt ailed under pressure rom Washington. In America as in India, Huawei still eels the sul ur and the people's army. To go urther, the OEM must resol e to work in transparency, including its links with the State, e en i the irm argued that the majority o capital held by employees. And why not look into scholarship as his opponent ZTE. It is not ery ashionable and Ren Zheng ei ound that might distract employees, i they disco ered their enrichment suddenly. But the sacri ice asked the sta there are limits. In 2007, a case o massi e dismissal be ore re-employment or losing the bene it o a new law to employees still tainted the reputation o Huawei. Mr. Ren and his ollowers should not orget that the "long March" has installed Mao in power, but also ended in a massacre, the irst in a long series.