Today is the official opening of Huawei’s new Canadian headquarters in Markham. Huawei’s presence in Canada has grown tremendously in the three years since I met with Huawei’s first Canadian employee in a coffee shop in Mississauga.
Huawei’s network equipment now powers a number of Canada’s largest mobile networks, including Bell and TELUS. Beyond its Toronto area offices, the company has a growing R&D centre in Ottawa. Yesterday, Huawei made announcements about separate Memoranda of Understanding with Bell and TELUS announced that they have entered into a to create and maintain Joint Innovation Centres in Canada.
The collaborative platform will take Huawei and TELUS’ existing relationship to a new level, increasing business benefits for both companies. Huawei and TELUS will work together on enhancing broadband solutions, wireless and wireline offerings. According to terms of the memorandum, the length of the agreement is three years and each company will own 50 percent of the Joint Innovation Center.
In the Bell Centre, Huawei and Bell will collaborate on developing and enhancing broadband wireless solutions, core network products and value-added service offerings.
Huawei’s is a remarkable growth story that can be the source of numerous business school case studies. For today, we’ll stick with extending our congratulatory wishes on the new offices.
Huawei is a sponsor of The 2011 Canadian Telecom Summit, opening May 31 in Toronto.