Reading this article can make one question things on a global scale. With China moving to secure a bigger, and expanding, digital footprint in the Middle East, would it be irrational to consider that the KungFlu was a calculated tactical biological strike on the world, particularly the United States? There would be many cards at play here.
And just like that, we're blind to what is going on
By Sophie Zinser
December 16, 2020
“New Value Together” was the slogan for the 40th annual GITEX Technology Week, the only in-person global technology show of 2020 held December 6 to 10 at the Dubai World Trade Center. Its organizer is known across the Middle East – particularly the GCC countries – as the region’s leader in 5G and cloud computing: Huawei.
The global telecoms supplier and mobile phone manufacturer made headlines throughout 2020 – most recently in Southeast Asia with a blitz of deals monopolizing Indonesia’s 5G network – for its role in a growing global 5G movement. Eleven telecom firms including those in the Gulf Cooperation countries (GCC) of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman have signed massive 5G contracts with Huawei over the last year.
By 2025, GCC countries will house much of the world’s growing 5G subscribers. Huawei has jumped on the bandwagon to capitalize on what they perceive as a promising future for 5G in the Middle East. The company’s leadership has been bullish on the Middle East since September 2019. And the region’s $164 billion annual market for information and communication technology (ICT) products is a good reason for Huawei’s enthusiasm. Over the last year, there has been a surge in publicly administered cloud services in the Gulf worth nearly $3 billion. This Gulf government-led push is confirming for Huawei that 5G-enabled cloud computing in the GCC is an increasingly lucrative market.
But what impact has this recent growth in 5G had on the everyday lives of the 54 million people living in the GCC? Not much. Locally, 5G is mostly being implemented widely only insofar as to enable a more rapid pace of downloads to smartphones and quicker analog communications. As of December 1, Huawei’s new P40 PRO 5G phone is available for consumer purchase in the UAE. But analysts remain optimistic on the potential of 5G to positively impact multiple industries in the GCC, specifically energy usage optimization, cloud computing, ultrafast broadband, and internet of things (IoT) innovation, including self-driving cars, transportation, and factory equipment.
In response, Huawei has been relentlessly extending its digital footprint across the Middle East despite Western efforts to curtail its global expansion. The United States has repeatedly expressed security concerns over Huawei’s presence in international markets. Since 2018, U.S. policymakers have been actively attempting to hinder the company and its China-side competitor ZTE’s expansion abroad, especially within the European Union. The Trump administration’s pressure on Huawei – specifically its recent ploy to curb critical semiconductor technology sales to the Chinese company – has sparked global discussions about data privacy and security-related drawbacks to international reliance on Huawei’s toolkit.
While the U.S. government’s efforts to halt Huawei’s expansion have succeeded domestically and in parts of Europe, the Gulf market has come out unscathed. This is perhaps due to the region’s highly sensitive position in geopolitics. Given a heavy reliance on China’s oil market as well as the significant U.S. military and diplomatic presence, there is no incentive for Gulf economies to become a proxy war zone for the world’s two largest superpowers.
But COVID-19 has made Gulf economies increasingly reliant on China as the nation’s economy recovers faster than the United States’ from the global recession. Since COVID-19 restrictions lifted in China, Chinese policymakers have undertaken major steps to develop what they are calling “industrial internet” of global telecommunications providers at far cheaper prices than their Western competitors in the sector. Saudi Telecom Company (STC) reported a jump of over 1,000 percent in bandwidth due to the surge in remote education. They are currently scrambling to secure necessary network infrastructure to keep pace with the demands of Saudi’s ambitious Vision 2030 strategy. Similarly, Qatar is preparing to host in 2022 what it hopes will be the first 5G World Cup. The event’s reliance on a critical partnership between British telecom giant Vodafone and Huawei may be jilted from the U.K.’s recent ban on Huawei products, making the battle for 5G in the region over the next few years ever more relevant.
Sophie Zinser is a researcher focusing on China’s role in the Middle East, South and Central Asia.
*** more at the link***
- We're be focused on the health of our population.
- Our political arena would also be so introverted that we'd be focused on OUR environment, instead of the global environment. In that, we'd secure our country while taking steps to return to turning a blind eye to how the world/planet is affected by oil spills in other countries, oil tankers pushing oil to the country, lack of oversight in those oil-producing countries, etc.
- China's digital expansion would encumber the GCC to become more reliant on their tech. We've seen over the past year how much big tech can and does influence politics, and society.
- With the GCC becoming more and more dependent on China and the Chinese tech, China would de facto run the area and control oil shipping, cost, etc
- All while we battle a virus China has released on the country and have become more dependent on oil from the Mid-East since January.
And just like that, we're blind to what is going on
China’s Digital Silk Road Grows With 5G in the Middle East
Huawei and other Chinese firms continue to make rapid inroads among Gulf countries – despite the United States’ efforts.
thediplomat.com
China’s Digital Silk Road Grows With 5G in the Middle East
Huawei and other Chinese firms continue to make rapid inroads among Gulf countries – despite the United States’ efforts.By Sophie Zinser
December 16, 2020
“New Value Together” was the slogan for the 40th annual GITEX Technology Week, the only in-person global technology show of 2020 held December 6 to 10 at the Dubai World Trade Center. Its organizer is known across the Middle East – particularly the GCC countries – as the region’s leader in 5G and cloud computing: Huawei.
The global telecoms supplier and mobile phone manufacturer made headlines throughout 2020 – most recently in Southeast Asia with a blitz of deals monopolizing Indonesia’s 5G network – for its role in a growing global 5G movement. Eleven telecom firms including those in the Gulf Cooperation countries (GCC) of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman have signed massive 5G contracts with Huawei over the last year.
By 2025, GCC countries will house much of the world’s growing 5G subscribers. Huawei has jumped on the bandwagon to capitalize on what they perceive as a promising future for 5G in the Middle East. The company’s leadership has been bullish on the Middle East since September 2019. And the region’s $164 billion annual market for information and communication technology (ICT) products is a good reason for Huawei’s enthusiasm. Over the last year, there has been a surge in publicly administered cloud services in the Gulf worth nearly $3 billion. This Gulf government-led push is confirming for Huawei that 5G-enabled cloud computing in the GCC is an increasingly lucrative market.
But what impact has this recent growth in 5G had on the everyday lives of the 54 million people living in the GCC? Not much. Locally, 5G is mostly being implemented widely only insofar as to enable a more rapid pace of downloads to smartphones and quicker analog communications. As of December 1, Huawei’s new P40 PRO 5G phone is available for consumer purchase in the UAE. But analysts remain optimistic on the potential of 5G to positively impact multiple industries in the GCC, specifically energy usage optimization, cloud computing, ultrafast broadband, and internet of things (IoT) innovation, including self-driving cars, transportation, and factory equipment.
In response, Huawei has been relentlessly extending its digital footprint across the Middle East despite Western efforts to curtail its global expansion. The United States has repeatedly expressed security concerns over Huawei’s presence in international markets. Since 2018, U.S. policymakers have been actively attempting to hinder the company and its China-side competitor ZTE’s expansion abroad, especially within the European Union. The Trump administration’s pressure on Huawei – specifically its recent ploy to curb critical semiconductor technology sales to the Chinese company – has sparked global discussions about data privacy and security-related drawbacks to international reliance on Huawei’s toolkit.
While the U.S. government’s efforts to halt Huawei’s expansion have succeeded domestically and in parts of Europe, the Gulf market has come out unscathed. This is perhaps due to the region’s highly sensitive position in geopolitics. Given a heavy reliance on China’s oil market as well as the significant U.S. military and diplomatic presence, there is no incentive for Gulf economies to become a proxy war zone for the world’s two largest superpowers.
But COVID-19 has made Gulf economies increasingly reliant on China as the nation’s economy recovers faster than the United States’ from the global recession. Since COVID-19 restrictions lifted in China, Chinese policymakers have undertaken major steps to develop what they are calling “industrial internet” of global telecommunications providers at far cheaper prices than their Western competitors in the sector. Saudi Telecom Company (STC) reported a jump of over 1,000 percent in bandwidth due to the surge in remote education. They are currently scrambling to secure necessary network infrastructure to keep pace with the demands of Saudi’s ambitious Vision 2030 strategy. Similarly, Qatar is preparing to host in 2022 what it hopes will be the first 5G World Cup. The event’s reliance on a critical partnership between British telecom giant Vodafone and Huawei may be jilted from the U.K.’s recent ban on Huawei products, making the battle for 5G in the region over the next few years ever more relevant.
Sophie Zinser is a researcher focusing on China’s role in the Middle East, South and Central Asia.
*** more at the link***
