In fallout from US sanctions, Huawei is restricted from participating in groups that set standards for WiFi, SD Card storage and other electronics.

Mitch Wagner, Executive Editor, Light Reading

May 24, 2019

3 Min Read
Huawei Restricted From WiFi & Electronics Standards Groups

Huawei Technologies had its voice muted at key standards bodies that set the direction for WiFi, SD Card storage and other electronics.

The damage starts at the Wi-Fi Alliance, which sets standards for the wireless technology. Wi-Fi Alliance "temporarily restricted Huawei Technologies participation in Wi-Fi Alliance activities" covered by the recent US Department of Commerce order restricting US companies from doing business with Huawei.

"Wi-Fi Alliance is fully complying with the recent U.S. Department of Commerce order without revoking Huawei Technologies membership," a spokesman said in an emailed statement.

Wi-Fi Alliance members include Apple, Qualcomm, Broadcom and Intel.

JEDEC, which sets semiconductor standards, said Huawei has "voluntarily decided to withdraw membership" until US restrictions are removed, according to a report on Nikkei Asian Review. JEDEC membership includes Qualcomm, Xilinx, Samsung Semiconductor, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, SK Hynix and Toshiba Memory, as well as HP and Cisco.

Additionally, Nikkei said, "Huawei also has disappeared from the member list of the SD Association, which is known for developing the standards of the SD Card, the most popular memory card format used in portable devices."

The SD Association temporarily modified Huawei's "membership rights to ensure compliance with the U.S. Department of Commerce Orders," a spokesperson for that group said in an email.

Huawei can still use technologies related to those organizations, because the standards are open to the whole industry. But Huawei will no longer have a voice in writing those standards, Nikkei said.

In response to a query from Light Reading, Huawei said: "We value our close relations with our partners, but recognize the pressure some of them are under, as a result of politically motivated decisions. We are confident this regrettable situation can be resolved and our priority remains to continue to deliver world-class technology and products to our customers around the world."

We have a query in to JEDEC.

Why this matters
Exclusion from standards bodies are further blows in the fight between the US and China, and they have the potential to hurt everyone. Huawei loses its voice in setting direction for key industry technologies, while the industry loses the voice of a major supplier in setting those technologies. Service providers are squeezed in the middle -- facing potentially another hurdle in using Huawei technologies on their own networks, and offering it to customers, while getting that technology to operate with other suppliers' products.

All in all, not a great way to end the week.

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About the Author(s)

Mitch Wagner

Executive Editor, Light Reading

San Diego-based Mitch Wagner is many things. As well as being "our guy" on the West Coast (of the US, not Scotland, or anywhere else with indifferent meteorological conditions), he's a husband (to his wife), dissatisfied Democrat, American (so he could be President some day), nonobservant Jew, and science fiction fan. Not necessarily in that order.

He's also one half of a special duo, along with Minnie, who is the co-habitor of the West Coast Bureau and Light Reading's primary chewer of sticks, though she is not the only one on the team who regularly munches on bark.

Wagner, whose previous positions include Editor-in-Chief at Internet Evolution and Executive Editor at InformationWeek, will be responsible for tracking and reporting on developments in Silicon Valley and other US West Coast hotspots of communications technology innovation.

Beats: Software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV), IP networking, and colored foods (such as 'green rice').

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