Australia Bans Huawei, ZTE From Supplying Technology For Its 5G Network (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Australia has blocked Huawei and ZTE from providing equipment for its 5G network, which is set to launch commercially next year. In a tweet, Huawei stated that the Australian government told the company that both it and ZTE are banned from supplying 5G technology to the country, despite Huawei's assurances that it does not pose a threat to national security. Earlier today, the Australian government issued new security guidelines for 5G carriers. Although it did not mention Huawei, ZTE or China specifically, it did strongly hint at them by stating "the Government considers that the involvement of vendors who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from foreign government that conflict with Australian law, may risk failure by the carrier to adequately protect a 5G network from unauthorized access or interference." In its new security guidelines, the Australian government stated that differences in the way 5G operates compared to previous network generations introduces new risks to national security. In particular, it noted the diminishing distinctions between the core network, where more sensitive functions like access control and data routing occur, and the edge, or radios that connect customer equipment, like laptops and mobile phones, to the core. Huawei Australia said in a statement: "We have been informed by the Govt that Huawei & ZTE have been banned from providing 5G technology to Australia. This is a extremely disappointing result for consumers. Huawei is a world leader in 5G. Has safely & securely delivered wireless technology in Aust for close to 15 yrs."

Comments

Any Evidence??

[pablo_max]

I have heard a lot of people screaming about these two companies, but so far, no one has produced any evidence of wrong doing. At least not that I have read about.

Is this just cold war scaremongering or is there actually something behind it.

It seems like a political statement more than anything. Perhaps some protectionism for other network infrastructure providers. Huawei has dominated in LTE. It is actually hard to find a network configuration that is not Huawei at the moment.

Re:Any Evidence??

[jonwil]

The problem is that the laws in China are such that at any time China could order Huawei or ZTE to use their installed gear to provide backdoors into western telecommunications networks. And if they say no all their top people will end up in the Chinese version of Federal Pound me in the A** Prison (which probably makes the US version look like a 5 star hotel) or in front of a firing squad.

The western governments don't want to allow gear into their networks that could be opened up to the Chinese government and their version of the NSA at any time because (for reasons I cant understand) they think the Chinese care about what us Aussies are doing on our phones (anyone sending anything classified, sensitive, commercially valuable or otherwise worth stealing is going to be encrypting it or not using public 5G networks at all so I dont get what the Chinese are supposedly going to be able to steal if they have these backdoors)

Re: Any Evidence??

[Nadir]

As opposed to the morally loose fascist country of the United States of America.

Re: Any Evidence??

[Anonymous Coward]

American companies arenÃ(TM)t partly owned by the government.

Correct. Here in the United States, the government is owned by the American companies.

we only let america spy on us

[redback]

We don't want china to spy on us, we only let america do that.

Re:we only let america spy on us

[benjfowler]

Yep. Because everyone spies. But the Americans are 100% friends to the hilt, and the Chinese are competitors, if not adversaries.

It's highly disingenuous to equate authoritarian kleptocracies like Russia and China with civilised Western countries. Don't do it.

Why not Cisco?

[ArhcAngel]

How many back doors have discovered in Cisco switches and routers in the last year? If you don't know they are in double digit territory.

Re:Why not Cisco?

[jabuzz]

I got as far as 1801-1805 "First Barbary War". Right so America decides to go to war with a bunch of real high seas Pirates that where also busy raiding the coastline of Europe and kidnapping people for slaves.

From Wikipedia; The cause of the U.S. participation was pirates from the Barbary States seizing American merchant ships and holding the crews for ransom, demanding the U.S. pay tribute to the Barbary rulers.

So yes America and later Britain where wholey morally justified in giving them a through pasting. Noting that to finally put an end to their practices European powers had to occupy north Africa, something north African's in the 21st century seem reluctant to admit too. You got colonized by Europeans because you where a bunch of evil bastards who would not leave us alone, and that is the truth of it.

Re:Why not Cisco?

[Puls4r]

Ok. I admit I laughed. But the message should remain the same for any sovereign country. Don't let foreigners run your critical infrastructure. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

Remaining competitors

[Luckyo]

If I remember 2017 numbers right on mobile infrastructure market, Huawei was the biggest with just below 30% of global market, with Ericsson right on its heels, followed by Nokia that had slightly below 25% and ZTE at below 15%. And Huawei's market share was growin while Ericsson's and Nokia's were shrinking.

This is going to be another big win for Ericsson and Nokia it seems, following the similar trend in US recently.