A delegation from the University of Malta will be visiting the Huawei R&D centre in Milan – the Global Microwave Competence Centre – which is involved in the some key research areas, including 5G.

There was, however, little concrete news with regards to the company’s activities here, following a memorandum of understanding signed with considerable fanfare in July 2015 with the Maltese government.

Huawei opened an office in Smart City with a skeleton staff, and is now evaluating résumés for the vacant positions.

“As far as the business will increase, the staff will grow as well,” Enrica Banti, in charge of external relations for Huawei in Italy and Malta, said.

She confirmed that Huawei was in talks with two local operators interested in upgrading the infrastructure in view of the potentialities offered by 5G, and that the company was also willing to provide “various services and support to the government, including sharing of best practices providing solutions for Digital Malta ICT strategy plan”.

Two local telecom operators expressed their interest in such next-generation testing with Huawei

Huawei is also planning to extend its global flagship educational project Seeds for the Future to Maltese students.

“Seeds for the Future programme is a cornerstone of Huawei’s efforts to address the e-skills challenge. This elite ICT talent programme selects gifted university students for an ICT study trip to Huawei’s headquarters in China. The programme currently spans 57 countries worldwide. In Europe alone, 23 countries are involved, and more than 500 young people have participated in the programme since its European launch in 2011,” she said.

Asked what was being done with regards to the testing of 5G – one of the main thrusts of the agreement – a government spokesman said that “such testing required a lot of planning and preparation”.

“Two local telecom operators expressed their interest in such next-generation testing with Huawei. This is important in order to conduct field tests of such new technologies using prototype kits. Once all the technical preparations are completed, testing will take place as planned,” he said.

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