MAJOR SCANDAL AT GAMTEL OVER ECOWAN PROJECT: SHOULD GAMBIA BAN HUAWEI FROM BIDDING ON GOVERNMENT PROJECTS? Allegations of possible bribery and corruption by Chinese telecommunication giant in The Gambia. By A Gamtel Insider Huawei is a Chinese telecommunications company that has been involved in several international scandals. Most recently in Uganda, where the government has ordered an investigation itnewsafrica/2012/10/uganda-orders-investigation-of-huaweis-fiber-optic-grid/ into its national fiber optic project over alleged inflated costs and use of inferior equipment. Concerned Gamtel staffers have indicated that Huawei has been awarded the IDB (Islamic Development Bank) funded ECOWAN project despite the fact another Chinese company ( ZTE Corporation) had submitted in a better financial offer. It has been alleged that the company has allegedly offered vast amount of money to the Gamtel evaluation team and some senior managers in order to skew the tendering process in their favor. More info to follow soon on this mega scandal ….. A Gamtel insider . Editors note: The management of Huawei could not be reached for immediate comment. Below is a story that was published by news Africa on the background of the Chinese company. itnewsafrica/2012/10/uganda-orders-investigation-of-huaweis-fiber-optic-grid/ The Ugandan government has ordered a probe into the national fibre optic project currently being developed by China’s Huawei Technologies in the country. The Ugandan government ordered a probe into the national fibre optic project currently being developed by China’s Huawei (image: file) According to New Vision in Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni has sent a letter to Prime Minister Amama that reportedly says he had “received intelligence information that Huawei used inferior cable type G-652 instead of type G-655.” The president claims that if this is true, the new fiber cable backbone would not be equipped to handle the kind of traffic it was designed for. The president’s letter also says that the “cables were buried at a shallow depth of 0.9 meters” and this could create problems with vandalism and other threats to the network’s security. The network saw Rwanda spend $38 million to cover a distance of 2,300 kilometers to connect 35 sites. Uganda will spend over $62 million to cover 2,100 km. “This means Rwanda spent $16,521 per kilometer while the cost to Ugandans is $29,523 per kilometer, which ICT experts say is inflated,” reported New Vision. Museveni said he has intelligence claiming “that there were efforts to steal money from the government by inflating the costs involved in digital migration for broadcasting.” It is unclear what course of action would be taken if the government’s intelligence is proven correct. Mohammad Awad Related Articles · Uganda: Phase 2 Fibre Optic roll-out finalized (0) · Huawei connects rural Zambia (0) · Uganda moving ahead with alternative undersea cable (0) · New cables to Africa bring hope for telecom sector (0) · Uganda- ICT ministry squanders $1.3-million (0) · Huawei Tech donates to Kenya (0) ..................................................................................... Below is another story about the Chinese Company Uganda orders probe into Huaweis fiber project Summary: The government is investigating its national fiber optic project being handled by Chinas Huawei, over alleged inflated costs and use of inferior equipment. By Ryan Huang | October 3, 2012 -- 10:32 GMT (03:32 PDT) Top of Form Bottom of Form The Ugandan government has ordered an investigation into the national fiber optic project being developed by Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies, over claims of inflated prices and the use of inferior equipment. In a report Tuesday, IT News Africa noted the countrys president Yoweri Museveni had sent a letter to Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi that reportedly said he had received intelligence information that Huawei used inferior cable type G652 instead of type G655. The president claimed in the article that if true, the new fiber infrastructure would not be equipped to handle the kind of traffic it was designed for. The letter was dated Apr. 16, according to a report Friday by New Vision. It cited experts which pointed out using the G652 cable would be insufficient for Uganda’s current needs and cannot provide for future growth. The G655 cable has a capacity of transmitting 40 gigabytes (GB) per second, noted the news site, whereas the G652 can only transmit 2.5 GB, upgradable to 10 GB. News Vision noted the president also raised concerns that the cables were buried at a shallow depth of 0.9 meters, instead of the recommended standard cable burial depth of 1.2 meters--which left it more vulnerable to vandalism and security threats. Worst of all, is the overpricing by Huawei Technologies, Museveni added in the letter. In the article, he said he had intelligence claiming that there were efforts to steal money from the government by inflating the costs involved in digital migration for broadcasting. The president noted Rwanda spent had spent US$38 million on a similar project to cover a distance of 2,300 km to connect 35 sites, while Uganda would spend over US$62 million to cover 2,100 km. David Dou, Huaweis public relations manager in Uganda, told News Vision in an e-mail the companys policies restricted him from sharing detailed information on customer contracts. The Chinese firm is under scrutiny in markets such as the United States, which has been investigating claims that Huawei and Chinese rival ZTE are linked to the Chinese military and areinvolved in cross-border cyber espionage and attacks. Huawei has also been blocked from bidding for contracts for Australias National Broadband Network (NBN), over national security concerns. Topics: Fiber, Broadband, Government, Legal, Networking Ryan Huang About Ryan Huang Loves caption contests, leisurely strolls along supermarket aisles and watching How Its Made. Ryan has covered finance, politics, tech and sports for TV, radio and print. He is also co-author of best seller Profit from the Panic. Ryan is an editor at ZDNets Asia/Singapore office. Posted on Monday, June 02, 2014 (Archive on Wednesday, July 30, 2014) Posted by PNMBAI Contributed by PNMBAI Return Current Articles | Categories | Search | Syndication No Articles Found.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 04:38:38 +0000
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