MANILA - Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei will not be shut out of PLDT-Smart's pilot tests for 5G mobile technology despite security concerns raised by the United States, the telco's chairman said Tuesday.

PLDT-Smart chairman Manny Pangilinan said they have asked telecoms vendors Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE, and Huawei to provide a plan to test their 5G platforms.

Pangilinan said he has talked to Huawei to identify "possible danger points" amid US' concerns on cybersecurity and espionage.

Huawei's response to him was "positive," said Pangilinan.

The PLDT chief added that Huawei's equipment and pricing were very competitive.

"I think they are ahead of the others technically. So mahirap 'yung (it's difficult to) shut them out just because they are Chinese,” Pangilinan said.

Globe Telecom earlier said it was tapping Huawei to provide equipment as it rolled out its 5G network.

Last month Huawei launched the Balong 5000 5G processor, which can run on phones and other smart devices, with download speeds of up to 6.5 Gbps or 10 times faster than 4G LTE.

The United States has warned its allies against using Huawei equipment saying the Chinese government could compel the company to give it access to sensitive data.

- With a report from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News