Canada banning China’s Huawei Technologies, ZTE from 5G telecom networks
OTTAWA, ON – The Liberal government is banning Chinese vendors Huawei Technologies and ZTE from Canada’s long-awaited blueprint for next-generation mobile networks.
The development of 5G, or fifth-generation, networks will give people speedier online connections and provide vast data capacity to meet ravenous demand as more devices link to the internet and innovations such as autonomous vehicles emerge.
The Opposition Conservatives and other critics have long pressed the Liberals to deny Huawei a role in building the country’s 5G infrastructure, saying it would allow Beijing to spy on Canadians more easily.
Some say Huawei’s participation could give it access to an array of digital information gleaned from how, when and where Canadian customers use internet-connected devices.