Poised to move ahead with the country’s 5G future, Italy has been pondering whether or not Huawei would be a good fit. Though the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer has a strong global presence, many countries, including the United States and Great Britain, have declined to do business with Huawei due to national security concerns. As Yahoo News remarks, the ongoing concern is that Chinese equipment could potentially include spyware.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that whether or not to include Huawei in the country’s 5G build-out was still a matter for debate. An unnamed source was quoted as saying, “It’s being considered at government level.” Speculation suggests that some politicians who initially lobbied for Huawei may now be considering other options.
“All the conditions are there to build 5G networks at European level without using Chinese technology,” commented Enrico Borghi, a member of the parliamentary security committee. When the matter came up for discussion by this committee last year, the suggestion was made to consider barring Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE from participating in the development of Italy’s 5G networks. Borghi explained that since Italy was likely to use resources from the planned EU Coronavirus Recovery Fund, it must take a clear position on whether or not to exclude Chinese vendors from 5G plans.
According to La Repubblica, “The Italian government is preparing a change of course as are many of its European partners,” adding that Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri and Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini have introduced that matter informally. Italy has not announced an official position on its relationship with Huawei.
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