Senior government officials say the Liberals have decided to ban Chinese supplier Huawei Technologies from helping build Canada’s next-generation mobile network infrastructure.
The development of 5G, or fifth generation, networks will allow users to rely on faster connections and vast data capacities to meet the high demand as more and more devices — from virtual reality headsets to motor vehicles — are connected to the Internet.
Opposition Conservatives and other critics have long recommended the Liberals ban Huawei from helping build the country’s 5G infrastructure, saying it would make it easier for Beijing to spy on Canadians. .
Some say Huawei’s involvement could give it access to a range of digital insights learned from how, when and where Canadians use internet-connected devices.
In turn, according to the theory advanced by these critics, Chinese security agencies could force Huawei to hand over the personal information to them.
Three of Canada’s partners in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance — the United States, Britain and Australia — have taken decisive action to limit the use of Huawei equipment in the respective 5G networks of their countries.
To see in video