Huawei to open R&D centre in Europe

Huawei is to invest €70m in a research and development (R&D) centre in Finland, the homeland ailing mobile giant Nokia.

The new R&D centre is set to open in Helsinki, and is expected to create 100 jobs over the next five years. News of the centre comes following the struggles of Finnish company Nokia.

"We believe the key to building our brand is to provide consumers with a reliable and differentiated user experience," said vice president of Huawei Central in Eastern and Nordic Europe, Kenneth Fredriksen.

"The open and innovative environment in Finland is an ideal place for Huawei to strengthen our global R&D capabilities for devices, creating opportunities for both Huawei and the Finnish telecommunications industry."

Huawei's new facility will focus primarily on mobile software for smartphones and tablets. The Chinese telecommunication firm says the centre is being created as a way to strengthen its mobile operations in Europe.

Along with the Finnish R&D centre Huawei has also built a UK research facility in recent years. In 2010, the smartphone maker settled a security test centre in Banbury.

For Finland, Huawei's presence will boost the country's IT economy. Nokia has struggled in recent years and has been forced to downsize.

Last year, Nokia reported that it would be cutting 17,000 jobs by 2013. The firm said the cuts would save it over €1bn and help refocus the company going forward.

While Huawei has continued to have a strong relationship with European countries it has struggled to gain acceptance from US regulators. In October, the US Congress Intelligence Committee said it would consider blocking sales of Huawei products over security concerns.

US officials accused Huawei, and fellow Chinese firm ZTE, of helping the Chinese government mount cyber espionage campaigns against the US.

For its part, Huawei has denied any such allegations. Along with ZTE, Huawei claimed that the US government was mounting its campaign in an effort to protect US business interests in the telecommunications space.

US representatives have denied all protectionist claims.