Canada will ban Huawei from 5G networks

Chinese state-champion telecommunications firm poses threat to Canada’s national security, says Franোয়াois-Philippe Champagne

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has launched Huawei Technologies Co., a fifth-generation wireless network. Has joined Canada’s nearest intelligence ally to ban K.

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Chinese state-champion telecommunications firm Canada has become a threat to national security, Industries Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said on Thursday, confirming a Bloomberg News report. ZTE Corporation’s equipment will also be banned

Companies that already have Huawei or ZTE Gear installed will need to remove it, Champagne said. Trudeau’s government delayed the decision for more than three years, as relations between Canada and China deteriorated and a ban would almost certainly provoke tensions.

The long-awaited announcement will be welcomed by the administration of President Joe Biden, who has sought to keep countries away from Huawei. U.S. officials have accused Gear of allowing the Chinese government to interfere in the 5G network. Since 2019, the United States has imposed the strongest sanctions on a single company.

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Relations between the two countries deteriorated dramatically in December 2018 after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Canada, at the request of the US extradition. Within days of Meng’s arrest, China had arrested two Canadians, former diplomat Michael Spavor and entrepreneur Michael Kovarig.

The high-stakes stalemate was resolved last September after the United States struck a delayed-prosecution deal with Meng, allowing him to return to China and allow two Canadians to return home.

But hostility has left hard feelings. The announcement comes just three days after lawmakers voted to revive a special committee to study the country’s relations with China. On Wednesday, the Canadian government announced that China had lifted its ban on canola imports.

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However, this move was taken by BCE Inc. And Telus Corp. This should not be a big challenge for companies that have used Huawei tools Fearing a final ban, the two companies have already begun excluding state-champion Chinese companies from their 5G build-out.

Huawei has long played a key role in the Canadian wireless network. It won its first major North American project from BCE and Telus in 2008 – a landmark deal that helped cement the Chinese supplier’s reputation as a global player that could compete with quality. The deal paved the way for it to become a major supplier to Canada’s largest telecom companies over the next decade.

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As the decision progressed, the Canadian military leadership argued that the company had created a potential security risk for allowing 5G networks. The country’s human and signal intelligence agencies, however, were reportedly divided over how to best deal with Huawei.

Rogers Communications Inc., Canada’s largest wireless provider, has partnered with Huawei rival Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson on 5G. The vice chairman of the Toronto-based firm argued in 2019 that the Chinese giant had created too large a security risk to allow for future network equations.

5G technology can be 100 times faster than existing top-of-the-line networks, where data speeds reach 10 gigabytes per second. It will greatly improve consumers’ ability to stream high-definition video and help create the so-called “Internet of Things” that can link everything from household appliances to traffic lights.

In July 2021, Canadian telecom companies pledged দিতে 8.9 billion to buy 5G Airwave licenses in a record-breaking government auction. Rogers, which is a small competitor to Shaw Communications Inc. Among the buying efforts, 3.3 billion has led the way in buying spectrum.

Bloomberg.com

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