Security Concerns Over China Stretch to ZTE

U.S. security concerns about Chinese telecommunications suppliers don’t stop with Huawei Technologies Co., which has so far taken much of the heat.

Some U.S. officials have accused smaller peer ZTE Corp. of being a potential security threat as well. Four lawmakers sent a letter Oct. 19 urging the Federal Communications Commission to take a closer look at ZTE and Huawei, and to consider restrictions that would make it harder for them to do business in the U.S.

ZTE, hardly a household name, is now the world’s sixth-largest seller of telecom gear, according to research firm IDC, and a frequent bidder for U.S. telecom work. It was founded in 1985 by a group of Chinese state-owned companies, which still hold a 17 percent ownership stake. But executives from ZTE’s U.S. arm say their company isn’t a security threat, and they are taking a series of measures designed to allay the fears of U.S. officials.

ZTE executives say they plan to set up a U.S. manufacturing facility within the next year or two, let third parties audit the company’s hardware and software, and are willing to share the company’s software code with U.S. officials. ZTE said Friday it has taken an initial step toward receiving the validation required for federal civilian agencies seeking to use the company’s technology.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Must-Reads from other Websites

Panos Mourdoukoutas

Why Apple Should Buy China’s Xiaomi

Paul Graham

What I Didn’t Say

Benjamin Bratton

We Need to Talk About TED

Mat Honan

I, Glasshole: My Year With Google Glass

Chris Ware

All Together Now

Corey S. Powell and Laurie Gwen Shapiro

The Sculpture on the Moon

About Voices

Along with original content and posts from across the Dow Jones network, this section of AllThingsD includes Must-Reads From Other Websites — pieces we’ve read, discussions we’ve followed, stuff we like. Six posts from external sites are included here each weekday, but we only run the headlines. We link to the original sites for the rest. These posts are explicitly labeled, so it’s clear that the content comes from other websites, and for clarity’s sake, all outside posts run against a pink background.

We also solicit original full-length posts and accept some unsolicited submissions.

Read more »