Chinese telecommunications company Huawei can afford to take a “long view of history” according to the company’s US chief security officer.
According to Donald (Andy) Purdy, who spoke to InnovationAus.com ahead of a visit to Australia, the company is not mired by arguments about whether or not its technology should be barred from Western nations’ communications infrastructure – including Australia’s 5G network.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority is preparing to auction spectrum in the 3.6GHz band later this year, the first step in the rollout of a national 5G network. There have been calls for Huawei technology to be excluded from that network due to perceived security threats – the company was previously barred from supplying equipment to the national broadband network.
Its technology however is embedded in the Radio Access Network supporting Optus’ and Vodafone’s 4G networks, and is critical for mobile services outside of the major metropolitan areas.
The company supports similar networks in the US. According to Mr Purdy; “We have a lot of smaller customers – tier three broadband and wireless providers that are really dependent on us….
