New Zealand banned a telecom company from using Huawei equipment over national security concerns. Wellington’s international spy agency forbid Spark to use tech giant’s hardware for deploying 5G across the country arguing that it might represent a “significant network security risk.”
Huawei has also been blocked by other countries as well, including the US, UK, Canada, and Japan. Also, in August, Australia also banned Huawei from rolling out 5G across the country, also due to national security concerns. On the other hand, New Zealand felt the need to clarify that the ban has nothing to do with the fact that Huawei is a Chinese company.
Previously, Huawei helped New Zealand build mobile networks, and in March the Chinese company and Spark conducted a 5G test on the test where New Zealand’s Parliament building is placed. After New Zealand announced its decision, the Chinese officials showed their disappointment saying that it is “severely concerned” about this issue.
New Zealand Bans Huawei Equipment Used For Deploying 5G Across The Country
“The economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand is mutually beneficial in nature. We hope New Zealand will provide a level playing field for Chinese enterprises’ operation there and do something conducive for mutual trust and cooperation,” said foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
The previous government in New Zealand adopted more conservative politics than the current leadership of the country. According to the Chinese officials, New Zealand had a close relationship with China. However, that changed, eventually.
Spark, which is one of the top three telecom companies in New Zealand, is also concerned about the decision took by New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau to ban Huawei from deploying 5G across the country. However, the company says, that wouldn’t affect them much and that they will still roll out 5G networks in New Zealand in July 2020, either with Huawei or not.
