The Australian newspaper set a few cats among the pigeons Thusday when it ran a story describing telecoms equipment company Huawei as a ‘shadowy’ company involved in espionage for the Chinese Government.
It claimed unnamed Australian security agencies would ‘closely examine’ the bid lodged by SingTel Optus for the $4.7 national broadband network funding, which it said might involve Huawei equipment.
Huawei isn’t everyone’s favorite company, but it doesn’t appear too shadowy to most industry observers.
Its DSL equipment is used in more than 30% of the world’s exchanges, including many in Australia.
Wikipedia says Huawei’s gear is used by 35 of the world’s top 50 telecoms operators. It’s a supplier of equipment to IBM.
Huawei yesterday said it is making Google Android mobile phones that can be ordered by any Australian operator.
Perhaps The Australian should relax. The Australian government doesn’t seem too concerned by Chinese-based telecoms operators, who have been handling international networks for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade since 2002.
Source: Daily Computer News, Sydney