Alex Webb, Columnist

The U.S. Already Has a $60 Billion Huawei Solution

While William Barr’s suggestion of buying Nokia and Ericsson is impractical, the U.S. has other tools to fend off Huawei in 5G.

February 12, 2020 at 11:47 AM UTC

By Alex Webb

Alex Webb is a correspondent for Bloomberg Quicktake. He previously covered the technology, telecoms and media industries in London, San Francisco and Munich.

William Barr weighs in on the 5G challenge.
Photographer: Nick Oxford/Bloomberg

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It might be the first workplace tip I was ever given: Always propose a solution when pointing out a problem.

The U.S. seems finally to have taken the adage to heart for its approach to China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Attorney General William Barr suggested on Friday that the U.S., either directly or in a consortium with private American or “allied” companies, consider taking a controlling stake in Huawei’s biggest telecommunications-equipment rivals: the European companies Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj.