For the third time, the US Commerce Department has granted Huawei a 90-day reprieve from the ban. The company received another temporary license effective from November 18th and will run through February 16th.
Huawei has received the temporary grant twice this year – in May and August, in a move to ensure the company continues to serve the telco customers in rural America.
“The Temporary General License extension will allow carriers to continue to service customers in some of the most remote areas of the United States who would otherwise be left in the dark,” said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in a statement.
In response, a Huawei spokesperson said, “Extending the Temporary General License won’t have a substantial impact on Huawei’s business either way. This decision does not change the fact that Huawei continues to be treated unfairly.”
Even with the license, Huawei and 114 of its affiliates have not been given the go-ahead with any exports or imports. For that, the company will have to acquire an approval first.
Just like in what we have seen so far, this license extension does not mean Huawei will start shipping devices with Google Mobile Services. The company has launched several devices without Google Apps, something that has made the company launch new devices in selective markets.
So unless the ban is lifted fully, Huawei will continue shipping devices with the Open Source Android version.
Huawei has been a victim of the US-China trade war, with the US claiming the Chinese government could leverage the company for spying. Something which the company had denied for a long time.
