Two leading telecommunications providers Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp, have been banned from building Australia’s 5G network.
Huawei Australia revealed this in a Twitter post saying, it has been informed by the Australian government that both Huawei and ZTE have been banned from providing 5G technology to Australia.
“This is an extremely disappointing result for consumers. Huawei is a world leader in 5G. Has safely & securely delivered wireless technology in Aust for close to 15 year,” Huawei Australia said in its posting.
However Canberra explained that, “the government considers that the involvement of vendors who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law, may risk failure by the carrier to adequately protect a 5G network from unauthorised access or interference.”
Huawei chairman, Liang Hua said the company will “ensure that it uses data legally”, without making specific reference to Australia.
However, ZTE has not yet commented on the issue.
The Chinese company works with all of Australia’s major telco operators and over 50 per cent of Australians use a Huawei product for some part of their daily telecommunications needs, according to a description on the Twitter account.
Vodafone Australia, which tried out 5G equipment with Huawei, criticised the latest decision to ban Huawei from local 5G networks.
Its chief strategy officer Dan Lloyd says, Vodafone has always said that national security is paramount, and the company always has and always will meet the obligations under Australian law.
By:StephanieHorsu/techvoiceafrica.com
