A quiet Huawei Technologies Co.-led 5G revolution is unfolding at the heart of Europe — in the bucolic Swiss hamlet of Taenikon.
Far from President Donald Trump’s campaign to stop the world from using the Chinese company’s technology, cows in this northern Swiss village — with its white-washed cottages and manicured fields — wear Huawei’s 5G-connected neck-straps instead of traditional flat bells. And in the village’s Cistercian abbey, converted into a test farm, Switzerland’s second-biggest telecommunications operator, Sunrise Communications Group AG, and Huawei test the next-generation 5G wireless network.
“You could call it a Fitbit for cows,” said Alexander Lehrmann, Sunrise’s chief of new business development and internet of things, referring to Fitbit Inc.’s fitness device. “It allows farmers to get complete control and insight into their health conditions at any time and from any place.”
While countries in Europe are grappling with U.S. claims that Huawei’s gear could open them up to Chinese spying, Switzerland is quietly building a network with the company. Flying under the radar, the Swiss have become world leaders in the rollout of 5G technology with the early sprouting of private and public networks. Entities from the Zurich airport, the national mail service and railways to food giant Nestle SA and Zurich Insurance Group AG either have or envisage private networks with Sunrise, whose exclusive supplier is Huawei.
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