Report: HUAWEI to get 6-month waiver extension allowing it to push updates

The US Department of Commerce is expected to extend the temporary waiver allowing US firms to conduct limited business with HUAWEI. The current temporary general license is set to expire on November 18. Politico reports that the Commerce Department is likely to grant an extension of another six months.

According to Politico, which cites two people familiar with the decision, the extension is expected to allow rural telecom firms to continue transactions with HUAWEI. However, the previous two extensions also included waivers for HUAWEI devices to receive software updates and it could very well be the case this time around too.

If the US further extends the license, HUAWEI and HONOR users can expect to get software updates and security patches from Google until at least May 2020. Note that only HUAWEI devices that received Google certification before the US ban will be eligible for these updates. The recently released Mate 30 phones will still be devoid of Google services.

The US-HUAWEI story so far

HUAWEI was put on the US Entity List six months ago in May. It was expected that the Chinese firm will suffer severe losses because of the lack of Google services on its phones. To the contrary, HUAWEI significantly scaled up operations in China and came out on top despite the crisis.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recently said that US firms could get licenses to conduct business with HUAWEI “very shortly”. Ross said that the government has received 260 license applications, quite a few of which could be approved. Even President Trump said that will US firms will be able to deal with HUAWEI, though not much has come of it so far.

As usual, the confusion continues over the fate of HUAWEI’s devices in the wake of the US ban. We’re constantly tracking these policy updates and will inform you as and when we hear more on the matter.