Canada has declared its plans to restrict the use of China’s Huawei Technologies and ZTE 5G gear to protect national security, in line with the decision of intelligence-sharing allies.
“We intend to exclude Huawei and ZTE from our 5G networks,” said Canada’s Industry Minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne.
“Providers who already have this equipment installed will be required to cease its use and remove it under the plans we’re announcing today,” he added.
Champagne added that companies will be mandated to remove their 5G gear by June 2024 and would not be refunded.
Companies using Huawei 4G equipment must be removed by the end of 2027. The decision has not been received well by the Chinese Authorities.
A spokesperson for China’s embassy in Canada said the alleged security concerns were a “pretext for political manipulation” and accused Canada of working with the US to restrict Chinese companies.
