Spies say nothing to Spark

The ban on using Huawei equipment for the pending upgrade of Spark's 5G mobile network could mean that the technology is more expensive for consumers, said the manager of a large telephone company .

Yesterday, Spark said that he had been informed by the General Manager of the Government Communications Security Office (GCSB) Andrew Hampton that he could not use the Huawei equipment to move to the fifth-generation technology.

Upgrading would increase the speed of data transfer over the wireless network and make it easier to download large files.

The CEO told Spark that he considered that the company's proposal to use Huawei 5G equipment could, if implemented, generate significant risks to national security, said the telephone company.

Mathew Bolland, Head of Corporate Affairs at 2degrees, said the decision could lead to higher prices for consumers. A ban by Huawei would leave only two major telecommunications infrastructure providers to bid for 5G jobs – Nokia Networks and Ericsson -, which would make the market less competitive. The resulting price increases would ultimately be passed on to the consumer.

When Huawei entered the market a few years ago, the company undercut Nokia Networks and Ericsson to gain market share, which resulted in lower prices, said Bolland.

Given that the market was already very small, with only three players, losing one would make a significant difference.

Bolland said that 2degrees had not had any discussion with the GCSB about the impact of this decision on its 5G projects and "seeks to clarify," he said. "Our comments on the importance of the presence of multiple suppliers to ensure price competitiveness are still valid.If this announcement has a similar impact on 2degrees, it will be a real disappointment to the competition."

GCSB Minister Andrew Little said that the "national security risks" identified by the agency regarding Spark's planned deployment of 5G were "unauthorized intervention".

Under the 2013 Telecommunications (Interception and Security Capability) Act, technologies used by telecommunications network operators to perform upgrades must be verified and approved by the security agency. .

Little said the agency had identified the technology that Spark wanted to introduce for the 5G was "which would create a risk to national security". But he remained silent about the details of these risks, citing "classified information".

The next part of the process was for Spark and the GCSB to work together to see if "any outstanding issues could be resolved," said Little.

Spark said that he had not yet had the time to review the decision in detail.

"While we are disappointed with this decision, we are confident that this decision will not affect our intention to launch the Spark 5G Network by 1 July 2020, provided that the New Zealand provides the necessary spectrum ". "

At Spark's annual meeting on Nov. 2, Chief Executive Simon Moutter delivered a passionate speech in favor of Huawei, saying the company should be allowed to bid for the 5G upgrade, unless the government can provide "irrefutable proof" that the company was a threat to security.

Andrew Bowater, Deputy Managing Director of Huawei New Zealand, said his company's policy is to cooperate fully with the GCSB. As in the UK and Canada, no questions have yet been raised about his technology, he told the Herald last week.

The GCSB's decision comes after the announcement Friday that the US was pressuring its allies to give up Huawei.

US officials would have worried about the possibility that Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers would spy on or disable their connections with an exponentially growing universe, including components of manufacturing plants.

The Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed US official as saying, "5G networks have additional complexity that makes them more vulnerable to cyber attacks."

While the United States and Australia have long banned Huawei, former Prime Minister John Key has actively mobilized Chinese society, encouraging companies involved in deploying the Ultrafast Broadband (UFB) service to consider his equipment as a quality auction at a competitive price. .

Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker said relations between New Zealand and China were well developed, which was much broader than this problem.

Yesterday's decision could mean a re-examination of Huawei's hardware dotted with UFB and Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) deployments, as well as Spark, Vodafone and 2degrees networks.

The head of the Telecommunications Users Association, Craig Young, had already warned that the cost of extraction would be considerable.