Australia has decided to ban Chinese networking giants ZTE and Huawei from rolling out the 5G network in the country due to the fact that the companies behold security risks to foreign governments.
Consequently, with the pronouncement of the latest ban sentence, Australia happens to be the third country to block the telecom equipment giants from entering their region- just after the United States and the United Kingdom.
Hence, from now on Huawei and ZTE will be blocked from bidding for contracts on Australia’s prestigious National Broadband Project of 2012, due to cybersecurity concerns.
A couple of months ago, two of the top law enforcement agencies of United States disclosed with evidence that Huawei was having close links to Beijing and could have been a part of espionage projects conducted by China on Foreign nations.
Scott Morrison, the Minister for Home Affairs, and Mitch Fifield, the Minister for Communications of Australian have confirmed the news and said that the ban was imposed to mitigate cybersecurity risks posed by China.
Reacting to the news on Thursday, Huawei’s Australian division responded that the ban was extremely disappointing to its consumers. The statement adds that the company has been a world leader in 5G and has been safely and securely delivering wireless technology in Australia for 15 years.
Note 1- As per the latest Chinese laws, companies and citizens need to support, assist, and cooperate with intelligence work. And in order to continue in business from China, Huawei and ZTE are alleged to be manufacturing equipment in conduit for espionage.
Note 2- Huawei was supposed to provide telecommunication network gear to roll out the 5G network in Australia. This includes base stations, towers, and radio transmission equipment.
