Telecom Lead Asia: The impact of the rt is spreading to other countries. Canada may ban Huawei from bidding government telecom projects.

Canada said it has invoked a national security exception that may exclude Huawei Technologies from building its new super secure government network.

“The government is going to be choosing carefully in the building of this network and it has invoked a national security exception,” said Andrew MacDougall, spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Ottawa invoked its national security exception to trade agreements in the building of its massive data and telecommunications network.

Canada’s wireless market is currently dominated by three big players: Telus, Rogers, and Bell. Canada is an important market for Huawei. In fact, Canadian telecom market is expanding. Recently, the government said it is applying measures to the upcoming 700-MHz wireless spectrum auction to ensure rural Canadians receive the same level of service as people who live in bigger towns and cities.

Huawei is already providing high-speed networks for private Canadian firms Bell Canada, Telus, SaskTel and Wind Mobile, but Canadian authorities remain wary about the role it might play as the country rebuilds networks damaged by cyber attacks in 2010.

China Daily reported that Huawei and ZTE rejected as baseless the findings of a US congressional investigation that accused them of posing a national security risk. The allegations indicated growing commercial disputes between China and the United States, especially in the high-tech sector, trade experts said.

“Baseless suggestions purporting that Huawei is somehow uniquely vulnerable to cyber mischief ignore technical and commercial realities, recklessly threaten American jobs and innovation, do nothing to protect national security, and should be exposed as dangerous political distractions from legitimate public-private initiatives to address what are global and industry-wide cyber challenges,” said Bill Plummer, Huawei’s US vice-president of external relations.

ZTE urged the committee to extend equal treatment to all telecom equipment makers because most or all US telecom equipment is made in China, including that provided by Western vendors.

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