Canada likely to follow U.K.’s template on Huawei decision: analyst

The Liberal government will “inevitably” follow the U.K. in banning Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. equipment from the core of Canada’s 5G network, according to National Bank of Canada financial analyst Adam Shine. The U.K. government on Monday announced it would allow Huawei’s equipment to be used in its 5G roll-out, but imposed restrictions preventing it from being used in the core, in sensitive geographic locations or for Critical National Infrastructure, or from making up more than 35 per cent of radio access network equipment. In a note published Tuesday following the U.K. decision, Shine said the probability of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government banning Huawei outright was “likely quite small, though its equipment will inevitably be precluded from the core of 5G networks and government infrastructure.” Shine said the “only real mystery” surrounding the eagerly awaited Huawei decision was whether Canada would follow suit in imposing a limit on RAN equipment, noting it could have an impact on BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. “Bell uses Huawei for about 40 per cent of its RAN, with Telus relying predominantly on the Chinese vendor,” Shine said in the note. “A 35% or even 50% limit wouldn't affect Bell, but it would cause Telus some extra spending whose magnitude would be subject to how much time it had to meet a target.” Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains would not give a timeline on when the government would rule on Huawei’s 5G involvement on Tuesday, telling a media scrum that it would take the “appropriate time that we need to make a decision”, according to a transcript. Asked if it made sense for Canada to follow the U.K.’s approach, Bains said each country had “their own assessments to make”. “They have come to that determination that they feel that's the appropriate course of action they need to take, but we're not going to make a decision based on one particular jurisdiction. We're going to look at what's in Canadians' interests,” Bains said. “I'm not going to jump to any conclusion of what that solution may look like vis-à-vis core and non-core, but the safety and security is going to be the underlying premise for the decision that we make.” Huawei Canada’s vice-president of corporate affairs, Alyshan Velshi, welcomed the U.K.’s decision but said the company took “nothing for granted” as it waited on the Canadian government to come to its own ruling.

Canada likely to follow U.K.’s template on Huawei decision: analyst

Brief | January 28, 2020

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

Canada likely to follow U.K.’s template on Huawei decision: analyst

Brief | January 28, 2020

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Related Stories

Ericsson invests $634 million in R&D in Canada

Ericsson proud of research and development facilities in Canada

Rogers spends $8 million upping capacity at Toronto stadium; TTC work remains underway

SaskTel rolls out 5G service to more than 50 rural and remote areas

Reuse & Permissions

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us