The screws are tightening on Huawei, courtesy of the U.S. government, Sprint and multiple global telecoms. It's being reported today that T-Mobile US and Sprint Corp expect their merger to be approved by a U.S. national security panel as early as next week, after their respective parent companies said they would consider curbing their use of equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies.  

In Reuters first report on Huawei they note that "U.S. government officials have been pressuring T-Mobile’s German majority owner, Deutsche Telekom AG, to stop using Huawei equipment, the sources said, over concerns that Huawei is effectively controlled by the Chinese state and its network equipment may contain “back doors” that could enable cyber espionage, something which Huawei denies.

That pressure is part of the national security review of T-Mobile’s $26 billion deal to buy U.S. rival Sprint, the sources said.

Sprint’s parent, SoftBank Group Corp, plans to replace 4G network equipment from Huawei with hardware from Nokia and Ericsson, Nikkei reported on Thursday, without citing sources."

In Reuters second report on Huawei, they note that Orange S.A, formerly France Telecom, the fourth largest mobile network operator is committed to not working with Huawei for 5G.

U.S. officials had briefed allies that Huawei is ultimately at the beck and call of the Chinese state, while warning that its network equipment may contain “back doors" that could open them up to cyber espionage.

Orange CEO Stephane Richard told reporters in Paris: "We don’t foresee calling on Huawei for 5G. We are working with our traditional partners Ericsson and Nokia."

Richard added that the security concerns were legitimate: "absolutely understand that all of our countries, and the French authorities, are preoccupied. We are too."

On another front, it was surprising to learn that Canada, being a member of the Five Eyes intelligence group, is distancing themselves from the U.S. position on Huawei.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale of the left wing Liberal party is calling reports that Canada will soon formally ban the telecommunications giant Huawei from its 5G network "speculation."

Huawei has invested in Canadian Universities and in one case invested $500 million in the province of Ontario alone. So for Canada, it's an economic issue and with the latest trade deal with the U.S. having been shoved down their throat, the Canadian Government will take their time in issuing a decision on using Huawei's equipment for 5G in Canada or not.

The news of telecom operators shutting Huawei out of 5G equipment sales has nothing to do with banning Huawei smartphones at this point in time. The U.S. is the only major country that has banned Huawei smartphones. While not technically "official," the U.S. Government urged AT&T to stop their partnership with Huawei and AT&T complied.