Huawei to create up to 150 jobs

Up to 150 jobs are expected to be created within the next two years by Huawei, the Chinese telecom and network multinational.

The company currently employs 50 people in Ireland with operations in Dublin, Athlone and Cork and has tendered for a licence to develop the infrastructure for the roll-out of fourth generation broadband in Ireland.

It also has plans to launch an own-branded smartphone on the Irish market within the next 12 months, according to Frank Bai, managing director of Huawei Ireland.

Huawei, with 110,000 staff worldwide and revenues of $28 billion (€21.25bn) last year, has had an office in Ireland since 2008. Mr Bai said it wanted to become a major player in the provision of telecom equipment, smartphones and business networking in Ireland.

Ireland’s telecoms watchdog, ComReg, is in the process of auctioning 28 blocks of wireless spectrum bands between this year and 2030 to the highest bidders. Up to €260m is expected to be raised in the auctions.

The 4G innovation, known as long-term evolution, or LTE, could see wireless speeds of between 50Mbps and 100Mbps nationwide, reversing Ireland’s broadband deficit by going from one of the poorest services in Europe to one of the best.

According to Mr Bai, Ireland has the opportunity to outpace similar plans to introduce LTE in Britain which have stalled due to disagreement among telecom and network providers.

“The UK has delayed its spectrum auction plans and, because it has a bigger geographical area, it will take longer for it to cover the country,” said Mr Bai. “Therefore, Ireland could get there earlier.”

While Huawei’s operation here is relatively small, it still represents one of the biggest Chinese businesses in Ireland. According to Bai, there is huge room for expansion in trade between Ireland and China, but it will take a shift in strategic thinking on behalf of the Government to encourage more Chinese companies to set up operations here.

“There is, perhaps, too much emphasis on attracting American investment here,” he said. “We in China do not look on Ireland as a small country. We tend to see it in global terms and, even though the population here is small, the Irish have exerted huge influence in practically every corner of the world.”