The Australian government will not let Chinese vendor Huawei bid on any equipment contracts for the National Broadband Network (NBN). As reported in the Australian Financial Review, the government's decision was driven to protect the country from possible cyberattacks from China.
Julia Gillard, Australia's prime minister, said that its decision to not let Huawei bid on any equipment tenders was "prudent."
"You would expect, as a government, we would make all of the prudent decisions to make sure that that infrastructure project does what we want it to do, and we've taken one of those decisions," she said
However, not everyone agrees with Gillard's stance on Huawei.
Andrew Robb, the opposition finance spokesman, believes that Gillard's decision will have a negative effect, detracting foreign investors from countries like China.
"Over the last four years the Rudd-Gillard governments have damaged our relations with China, India, Japan and Indonesia at a time when the middle class across that region is exploding," Mr. Robb said, adding that Huawei has plenty of experience in helping to build out major next-gen network projects like BT's (NYSE: BT) 21 CN.
Jeremy Mitchell, Huawei's corporate affairs director, told ABC Television that "I think the best way to do this is to work together."
Australia, of course, is not the only country where the Chinese vendor has faced government opposition. In the U.S., national security concerns derailed Huawei's bid to win a piece of Sprint Nextel's (NYSE: S) multibillion-dollar network modernization contract.
For more:
- Australian Financial Review has this article
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