Huawei plans $1.9bn investments in UK – report

PanARMENIAN.Net - Huawei Technologies Co., China’s largest maker of telephone equipment, plans to invest about 1.2 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) in the UK, Bloomberg reported citing a person familiar with the matter.

The company will make direct investments of 600 million pounds and predicts an additional 600 million pounds through related procurement, the person said, declining to be identified because the plan isn’t public yet. Huawei declined to comment.

The company said in March it will increase investment and add jobs in Europe after identifying it as a region of strategic importance. Huawei, which is providing cloud- and business- computing services in addition to selling smartphones and tablets, in May 2011 won its first major wireless network order in the U.K. from Everything Everywhere, a venture between Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE) and France Telecom SA. (FTE)

Huawei also said last year that it planned to double the company’s workforce in the UK to 1,000 people over three years as it expands the handset unit and seeks corporate clients. Huawei has research and development facilities in the U.K., France, Italy, Sweden and Germany. In both the UK and France, the Shenzhen, southern China-based company has established local boards of directors and advisory councils for business development.