By akademiotoelektronik, 08/03/2023

Should the Huawei antennas be ripped off? | JDM

"Rip and replace". This is exactly the watchword that the United States has given to telecommunications operators on its territory to get rid of the equipment of the controversial Chinese giant Huawei.

In the name of national security, US federal authorities ruled last December that these antennas and radios must be removed as soon as possible, due to fears of espionage. They have committed nearly US$2 billion in public funds to achieve this.

Meanwhile, in Canada and Quebec, there is a good chance that your cell phone will work with Huawei equipment.

Comprehensive investigation

Our Bureau of Investigation has been looking over the past few months at how Huawei has established itself in our country since 2009. The company has had the blessing of Ottawa, in particular the Harper government, to install.

There are approximately 24,000 cell towers with Huawei equipment in the country, including more than 4,500 in all regions of Quebec, as you will see on pages 2 and 107 of this edition.

Should we also be afraid of being spied on? Huawei Canada says this idea is "absurd".

But our journalist Marc-André Sabourin managed to obtain several testimonies that were not at all reassuring, including that of the former director of the Canadian secret services Richard Fadden, who believes that “everything should be removed”.

Watching the shocking documentary La Brèche, prepared by our team and available now on Club illico, we see that a whole section of our economy could have been stealthily stolen by China over the past decade.

The confessions of ex-Huawei employees and other confidential sources to our Bureau of Investigation were obtained after a long process to gain their trust. It was worth it, because they are invaluable in understanding the methods of this company.

Revelations about the role China may have played in the downfall of former Canadian telecommunications gem Nortel are particularly troubling. Sounds like a spy movie script. Just like those, which we will present to you tomorrow, on the close links between Huawei and certain universities.

Decision to be made

We understand that the unease goes much deeper than the political tensions surrounding the imprisonment and summary trials in China of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

Should Canada allow Huawei to be involved in the development of the next generation cellular network, 5G? Or should we rather follow the example of the United Kingdom, Australia, Sweden and the United States, which have already decided that this is out of the question?

This is an issue on which the Trudeau government would be well advised to take a stand quickly.

Jean-Louis FortinDirector of the Bureau of Investigation