The government of Thailand has partnered with Huawei to launch a 5G mobile telecommunications test bed, defying the U.S. government’s call not to use the Chinese telecom giant’s gear due to security concerns.  

The fifth-generation (5G) test bed in Thailand, one of U.S.’s allies in Asia, will be Huawei’s first in Southeast Asia, Reuters reported on Friday. It will be located in Chonburi, which housed the Thai military government’s $45 billion economic project – the Eastern Economic Corridor. 

The U.S. government has for years urged its allies not to use Huawei technologies out of concern that Beijing could use the company’s equipment for espionage. Huawei has denied such allegations. The company, however, has recently faced increased international scrutiny, with setbacks to its 5G technology in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, and the U.K. 

For Thailand, security concerns over Huawei’s gear is secondary to its competitive pricing versus that of U.S. firms, the Reuters report said, citing an official from the Information Technology Industry Club of the Federation of Thai Industries.

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