Huawei wants in on Australian 6G network

Mr Mitchell said co-operating with Huawei from the outset would show that this view was “wrong” and he hoped the government would take a different approach with 6G.

He said the recent efforts by telecom giant Ericsson to lobby the Swedish government to overturn its Huawei ban showed that the Australian government had made the wrong decision on 5G.

In a series of leaked text messages to a Swedish government minister, Ericsson’s chief executive, Börje Ekholm, threatened to pull its headquarters out of the country if the ban on Huawei was not lifted.

While Ericsson has campaigned against banning Huawei in Europe, the Swedish telco has not publicly weighed into Australia’s ban.

“Ericsson in Australia is at a near monopoly status … I think it would be welcome if Ericsson in Australia, as well as Nokia, adopted the same approach as their European headquarters,” Mr Mitchell said.

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“In Europe they’ve always had an open and competitive environment when it comes to the vendor space.

“Look at the way they’ve done research co-operation – it’s a different mindset on how the interaction goes in the vendor space compared to Australia.”

Asked whether it supported Australia’s Huawei ban, a spokeswoman for Ericsson said it was “focused on providing world-leading technology solutions for customers and we are committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation, as we have done here in Australia for the last 130 years”.

“Ericsson is a trusted telecommunications provider that complies with relevant government legislation and/or administration orders,” the company spokeswoman said.

Asked whether the government had begun research into the 6G technology, a spokesman for Acting Communications Minister Michael McCormack said the government was “focused on the efficient and timely rollout of 5G”.

Fergus Hanson, the director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre, said the Australian government had an “excellent capability” to make assessments about the 5G rollout.

“I think there’s ample evidence from the United Kingdom’s review into high-risk vendors that there are a litany of issues that need to be addressed,” he said.