If U.S. government approval...

If U.S. government approval of SoftBank’s proposed purchase of 70 percent ownership of Sprint Nextel “is contingent upon agreement to restrict purchase of telecommunications equipment from select venders by virtue of geography, then it is a sad day for free and open global trade,” Huawei spokesman Bill Plummer told us in an email. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., has said SoftBank and Sprint told him they will not integrate Huawei-manufactured telecom equipment into the Sprint network if the government approves the deal. The companies also said they plan to reduce Clearwire’s use of Huawei-manufactured equipment; Sprint is seeking government approval of its plan to buy out the carrier. SoftBank and Sprint were addressing concerns that Huawei posed a potential national security risk (CD April 1 p5). Excluding a manufacturer based on geography will do little to address network security concerns “given that every telecom gear vender relies on common global supply chains and faces common cyber-challenges,” Plummer said. “Such a contingency would mean little more than the unfair market-distorting penalization of a globally-respected company that meets the highest standards of network security, is a trusted vendor to 45 of the world’s top 50 network operators, and is an active investor and employer in the U.S.”