Baicells now faces a Huawei-sized security problemBaicells now faces a Huawei-sized security problem

Baicells – a radio vendor with ties to China – is reportedly under US government investigation over security concerns. It's the same situation that sparked the US to put Huawei on its blacklist.

Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies

January 17, 2025

6 Min Read
Security breach, system hacked alert with red broken padlock icon
(Source: NicoElNino/Alamy Stock Photo)

US federal investigators have set their sights on Baicells, a vendor whose ties to China are raising security concerns, according to a detailed report from Reuters.

The US Department of Commerce and the FBI are investigating the vendor, which sells 4G and 5G radios and other products for mobile, fixed wireless and private wireless networks worldwide, according to Reuters. An unspecified but substantial number of Baicells' 700 commercial customer networks are in North America.

The investigations are serious. The Commerce Department has sent subpoenas to the company, while the FBI has been poking around Baicells since at least 2019. FCC officials are also involved, according to the report. 

But questions remain. Reuters was not able to determine the specific focus of the investigations, nor could it provide evidence that any Baicells equipment had been misused.

However, the Pentagon this month added Baicells to a list of 134 companies it says work with China's military. The Pentagon did not provide further evidence or comment.

"We strongly disagree with the Defense Department's designation and intend to appeal," Baicells said in a statement to customers, according to Reuters.

And the company's chairman – Sun Lixin, based in Beijing – told Reuters that "Baicells does not believe there are any security risks associated with its radio products."

Baicells' equipment runs inside a wide range of US infrastructure. For example, the City of Longmont, Colorado, runs a private wireless network with equipment from Baicells. Similarly, a residential rental community in Phoenix, Arizona, uses equipment from Baicell and others for a private wireless network.

Baicells was founded in 2014 by senior Huawei veterans in China. According to Reuters, Baicells' board in China continues to remain very active in the company's operations in North America and elsewhere.

Years of rumors

For those in the wireless industry, the investigations into Baicells come as little surprise. Executives with the companies that compete with Baicells have long whispered about the vendor's ties to China and routinely questioned whether they might become a concern to US officials.

The same kind of security concerns eventually led to the historic blacklisting of China's Huawei during the first Trump administration. That remarkable blockade has remained in place during the Biden administration and has since spread to other countries allied with the US including Australia and the UK.

In fact, US moves against Huawei are now the subject of a new book by Eva Dou, a business correspondent for the Washington Post, entitled House of Huawei: Inside the secret world of China's most powerful company. Next up: A Huawei thriller from Hollywood à la Argo or Snowden?

Huawei remains the world's biggest vendor of mobile equipment despite the blacklist.

As for Baicells, it's worth noting that company executives are familiar with worries about the company's Chinese origins and ties.

"It comes up from time to time, no doubt," Tony Eigen, VP of Baicells' global marketing, told Light Reading in 2023 when questioned about whether there were concerns. Eigen said at the time that Baicells does have some operations in China but that the company manufactures its products in Taiwan. He also said the company's software compiling is conducted outside of China.

"This is not ZTE, this is not Huawei," he said in 2023. "We have the paperwork to back that up." 

Rip and replace

But now, thanks to Reuters' new blockbuster report, Baicells does have a Huawei-sized problem, paperwork or no.

In fact, the Reuters report seems to contradict Eigen's claims. It cited customs paperwork indicating that 92% of Baicells' shipments to the US – from 2018 through July 2024 – came from China or Hong Kong. Just 8% came from Taiwan.

Reuters said it could not determine where the Baicells equipment was made.

Further, Reuters reported that FBI officials in 2023 began investigating Baicells equipment used in Las Vegas. "Spooked by the attention from the FBI – which eventually took away a base station, according to one of the people – Las Vegas canceled the [Baicells] contract and turned to a US supplier instead, documents show," Reuters reported.

If US concerns around Baicells solidify, it's possible that other Baicells customers will make that same move.

Indeed, there is $5 billion worth of precedent for exactly that kind of reaction. The FCC's ongoing "rip and replace" program is funneling billions of dollars to small US wireless network operators so they can remove and replace equipment from Chinese suppliers ZTE and Huawei.

Geopolitical intrigue

Hovering over the entire issue is the geopolitical jostling between the US and China. Officials from Huawei, ZTE and China continue to argue that Chinese-built equipment does not pose a security risk. They claim US officials are simply manufacturing security concerns as a way to put trade pressure on Chinese companies.

There is some weight behind that argument. For example, Trump moved against TikTok in his first term as a security threat but then embraced the platform during his second campaign. Now, he's rumored to be considering a pardon for the company so it can continue operating in the US.

So what exactly are the security concerns here, whether it's TikTok or Huawei? US officials have never published a complete case against either company, preferring instead to hint at classified findings and other nonpublic evidence. That has left the US companies forced to tear out Huawei's equipment to simply trust in the wisdom of the FBI and the Commerce Department.

But wait, US officials argue: Look at the recent Salt Typhoon breaches into US telecom networks. Those hacks were carried out by the Chinese, according to multiple reports. 

However, Wall Street Journal reporting indicates the Chinese hackers infiltrated products from Fortinet (based in Sunnyvale, California) and Cisco (based in San Jose, California). They also took advantage of products that were so old they were no longer receiving security updates.

Thus, it's possible that the details simply don't matter when it comes to Huawei, TikTok or Baicells, given the wider security situation stressing US-China relations. Based on the history of Huawei, the future of Baicells in the US isn't looking good.

About the Author

Mike Dano

Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading

Mike Dano is Light Reading's Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies. Mike can be reached at [email protected], @mikeddano or on LinkedIn.

Based in Denver, Mike has covered the wireless industry as a journalist for almost two decades, first at RCR Wireless News and then at FierceWireless and recalls once writing a story about the transition from black and white to color screens on cell phones.

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