Canada Has No Choice But To Exclude Huawei From 5G Mobile Networks, Security Experts Say

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OTTAWA – As the liberal government prepares to roll out its policy on next-generation mobile networks, global security experts say all signs point to the exclusion of Chinese provider Huawei Technologies from the long-awaited plan.

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The development of 5G, or fifth-generation networks, will give people faster online connections and provide vast data capacity to meet voracious demand as more and more things are linked to the Internet and innovations such as virtual reality emerge. , immersive games and autonomous vehicles.

Opposition conservatives have long lobbied 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 argue that Huawei’s involvement could give you access to a variety of digital information gleaned from how, when and where Canadian customers use internet-connected devices. In turn, according to the theory, Chinese security agencies could force the company to hand over the personal information.

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These concerns stem from the fact that China’s National Intelligence Law says that Chinese citizens and organizations should support, assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work.

Huawei insists that it is a fiercely independent company that does not engage in espionage for anyone, including Beijing.

“We sell in 180 countries around the world,” said Alykhan Velshi, vice president of corporate affairs for Huawei Canada. “We have to comply with the laws of each of those countries. And if we breached trust, we would find ourselves selling in only one country. “

Regardless of whether Huawei poses a genuine security risk, concerns have led to a general notion that countries cannot afford to bet on a telco that has the enthusiastic support of Beijing, said Wesley Wark, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa and senior. Fellow of the Center for International Governance Innovation.

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“The company is too perceptually aligned with the Chinese regime to allow Western states to do anything else,” Wark said. “And they have alternatives.”

Velshi said Huawei Canada hopes, and hopes, that any decision the federal government makes on 5G policy will be “based on technology and not politics.”

It also emphasizes that the majority of Huawei’s roughly 1,600 employees in Canada are involved in research and development, as well as marketing products other than network equipment for telecommunications operators.

“The reality is that we have a diversified business in Canada,” Velshi said. “That’s why we sell smartphones in Canada, we sell headsets, we sell laptops.”

While there has been considerable focus on the Huawei question, the government’s 5G review is a much broader strategic look at how fledgling technology can stimulate Canada’s economy.

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“However, to seize this opportunity for economic growth through 5G, the safety and security of the technology must be ensured,” read the briefing notes prepared earlier this year for Bill Blair, then minister of public security.

“Incidents resulting from the exploitation of vulnerabilities by malicious actors will be more difficult to protect and could have a broader impact than in previous generations of wireless technology.”

Whether by chance or by federal design, decisions made months or even years ago in foreign cabinet meetings and corporate boardrooms are likely to profoundly shape the Canadian rollout of 5G.

Three of Canada’s partners in the Five Eyes intelligence sharing alliance, the United States, Great Britain and Australia, have taken decisive action to curb the use of Huawei equipment in their respective 5G networks in their countries.

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The federal government acknowledges that the US has strongly encouraged countries to exercise caution on 5G security considerations, noting that a US delegation visited Canada in March 2020 to discuss the issue with various ministers and government officials.

The United States has made it clear that Canada “has to participate” if it wants to remain part of the club, said Fen Hampson, professor of international affairs at Carleton University.

“It is the security premium you pay, not only nationally, but for being a partner in privileged security alliances such as the Five Eyes. There’s no free lunch, you can’t eat both ways, ”Hampson said.

“This is the great reckoning we are facing now. And I think it’s pretty clear in which direction the government is going to jump. “

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Canada’s announcement of 5G policy has effectively been shelved for the past three years by a tense geopolitical drama that unfolded between Ottawa and Beijing.

Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, a senior Huawei executive, in December 2018 at the request of the United States, where she was wanted on charges of violating sanctions against Iran.

The move clearly angered Beijing, and two Canadians working in China, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, were arrested shortly after on accusations of endangering national security, a move widely seen as a retaliation against Ottawa.

The United States recently crafted a deferred prosecution agreement in Meng’s case, which allowed for his release, and Beijing allowed the two Michaels, as they became known, to fly home to Canada.

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Meanwhile, major Canadian telcos handled the uncertainty by working with Ericsson of Sweden, Nokia of Finland and Samsung of South Korea to help build their 5G networks.

Bell Canada, for example, had little to say about the upcoming federal announcement. “We have no further comment to note that we are happy with our 5G network providers Ericsson and Nokia,” said spokeswoman Caroline Audet.

Huawei notes that the company’s involvement in existing Canadian mobile networks has never led to security-related complaints from customers or the government about its equipment.

“And it is still an important part of Canada’s telecommunications network today,” Velshi said.

Still, if Canada were to ban the company’s involvement in 5G, it would raise questions about the fate of Huawei’s legacy equipment on previously installed networks.

The government notes that the Canadian Security Review Program has been in place since 2013 to address cybersecurity risks.

The Communications Security Establishment, Canada’s cyberspy agency, works with telecommunications companies and equipment vendors to exclude certain equipment from sensitive areas of Canadian networks and ensure mandatory testing of equipment before it is used in less vulnerable systems.

The knowledge developed through the program will be important in assessing cyber threats and emerging technology risks, the government says.