Huawei to Expand R&D in India

Chinese networking equipment maker Huawei Technologies is expanding its R&D in India with a new center in Bangalore for the development of optical network products and wireless LAN technologies.

Huawei, of Shenzhen, already has two centers in Bangalore, which has the company’s largest R&D operation outside China. Huawei employs about 1,200 engineers in Bangalore, and is adding another 150 by year’s end, J. Gilbert, a spokesman for Huawei in India, said Thursday.

Huawei’s other development centers are in Sweden, Russia and the United States, Gilbert said.

The centers in Bangalore focus on next-generation networks, data communication, telecom middleware, network management, intelligent networks, mobile handset, server, security and optical networks, the company said.

“We had a small team working on optical network, but as it has expanded we are setting up a separate facility for it,” Gilbert said.

Huawei will have about 180 engineers at the new facility, some of whom will work on the company’s Optix series of intelligent optical network products. The new facility will also house a team doing software development in wireless LANs, with a focus on wireless switch and wireless access point products.

Huawei has invested US$100 million in its development centers in Bangalore. It plans to invest another $100 million by the end of 2008. The new investment is primarily to set up its own integrated campus in Bangalore, Gilbert said. The company currently operates out of rented premises.

Huawei’s plan to invest $60 million to set up manufacturing in India has, however, not yet been cleared by the Indian government, Gilbert said. The proposal from Huawei, submitted in March 2005, is reportedly under scrutiny by government intelligence agencies for security reasons.

-John Ribeiro, IDG News Service (Bangalore Bureau)

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