Lobbyists representing both the UK and Canada are reportedly applying pressure on the Australian government to ensure that Chinese telecommunications vendor Huawei has a role to play in constructing 5G networks in the country.
Speculation circulating in the last few months suggested that Australia was going to ban Huawei from the rollout of its 5G networks because of the alleged risk the company posed to national security.
However, reports in the last week now claim that government officials will allow Huawei to play a role in building its 5G networks, although it will face curbs on provision of equipment for what are deemed the most sensitive parts of the networks.
It has been reported that lobbyists from the UK and Canada are appealing to Canberra to give Huawei a leading role in its 5G rollout because if the Australian authorities were to impose a ban on then it would put pressure on both countries to justify sticking with Huawei.
As it currently stands, both Canada and the UK already have arrangements in place which allows them to examine all the equipment that is supplied by the Chinese telecommunications behemoth.
The Chinese firm has already established a cyber security centre in the UK alongside members of the Government Communications Headquarters, the intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance.
In May, Huawei announced a promise of procurement with the UK worth £3 billion during a meeting in Beijing between the company's chairperson, Sun Yafang, and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
In Canada, the government does its own monitoring of Huawei's equipment and the company has conducted trial runs for 5G technology in rural communities along with Bell Canada.
The sources have indicated that a similar arrangement to what exists in the UK or Canada would be put in place in Australia in an effort to alleviate any suspicions that have been raised about Huawei and the risk it possesses to national security, which has been raised by the intelligence community in the country.
Huawei itself has pushed for setting up a security assurance centre in Australia. In addition to this, it has been further disclosed that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to announce a decision on Huawei sometime before the Telecommunications Sector Security Reform law which takes effect on 18 September.
