Canada’s public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, has said a final decision on whether Huawei can supply equipment for the country’s next-generation 5G wireless network will not be announced until after the federal election later this year.
Goodale explained that Ottawa still needs more information from the United States about the security concerns Washington has raised regarding Huawei.
Speaking to The Canadian Press, Goodale said, “I think at this stage, with the amount of time that’s left between now and the issuing of a writ that it is unlikely for that decision to be taken before an election.” He added that Canada will continue a thorough and active review of potential suppliers to determine which organisation is best suited to provide equipment for the nation’s new 5G infrastructure, which many experts view as the backbone for an upcoming wave of transformative AI applications.
The United Kingdom has also indicated it is not yet ready to make a definitive decision on Huawei’s role in its networks, although it plans to introduce stricter, industry-wide security controls. Currently, Huawei equipment in the UK is under review at the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre in Banbury.
David Dyson, CEO of Three UK, warned that switching vendors now would have serious consequences for operators that have already begun deploying equipment for 5G. “We’ve already started to deploy equipment for when we launch 5G in the second half of the year. So if we had to change vendor now, we would take a big step backwards and probably cause a delay of 12-18 months,” he said.
Earlier this year, Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, filed legal action against Canadian authorities, alleging unlawful conduct related to her arrest in Canada in December. Meng’s lawyers claim the Canadian Border Services Agency delayed carrying out her arrest warrant to obtain additional evidence before the arrest took place.
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