Sprint rules out using Huawei equipment

Sprint Nextel, which this week agreed to sell a 70 per cent stake to Japan’s SoftBank for $20.1 billion, has indicated it will not use network equipment made by Huawei because of the US Congress’s security concerns about the Chinese company.

SoftBank’s proposed acquisition of the stake in Sprint, the third-largest US mobile operator, requires approval from regulators and from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US that vets foreign acquisitions of US companies. Asked about Huawei, the subject of a scathing report by the House Intelligence Committee last week, Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s chief executive, said: “In the US, I am aware of the sensitivity of the vendor issues which I would respect.” Dan Hesse, Sprint’s chief executive, said: “Sprint is a big supplier to the US government and that aside, I wouldn’t put in any equipment that would raise any security concerns.”