FCC bans Huawei, ZTE, China based connected camera and 2-way radio makers
On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. from selling electronics in the U.S. by regulators who say they pose a security risk, continuing a years-long effort to limit the reach of Chinese telecommunications companies into U.S. telecommunications networks.
The FCC also named connected-camera makers Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co. and Dahua Technology Co., as well as two-way radio manufacturer Hytera Communications Corp.
“The FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders, and we are continuing that work here,” Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a news release. “These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications.”
“On March 12, 2021, we published the first-ever list of communications and services that pose an unacceptable risk to national security as required under the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. This initial Covered List included equipment from the Chinese companies Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua. Since then, we’ve added equipment and services from five additional entities. Last year I also proposed stricter data breach reporting rules and worked with the Department of State to improve how we coordinate national security issues related to submarine cable licenses.”
In the 4-0 vote, the FCC concluded the products pose a risk to data security. Past efforts to curb Chinese access include export controls to cut off key, sophisticated equipment and software. Recently US officials have weighed restrictions on TikTok over fears Chinese authorities could access US user data via the video sharing app.
“This is a culminating action,” said Klon Kitchen, a senior fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute, a public-policy think tank. “Things that began under Trump are now being carried out. The Biden administration is continuing to turn the screws on these companies because the threat isn’t changing.”
Hikvision said its video security products “present no security threat to the United States and there is no technical or legal justification for the Federal Communications Commission’s decision.” The company said the ruling will “make it more harmful and more expensive for US small businesses, local authorities, school districts, and individual consumers to protect themselves, their homes, businesses and property.”
Huawei declined to comment, while Dahua, Hytera and ZTE didn’t respond to emails sent outside normal business hours in China.
The looming FCC move didn’t come up in the bilateral meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Indonesia last week, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Biden did discuss technology issues more broadly with Xi and was clear that the US will continue to take action to protect its national security, the official said.
“This is the death knell for all of them for their US operations,” said Conor Healy, director of government research for the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based surveillance research group IPVM. “They won’t be able to introduce any new products into the US.”
Dahua and Hikvision stand to be affected most since their cameras are widely used, often by government agencies with many facilities to monitor, Healy said. Agencies including police also use handheld Hytera radios, he said.
In its order, the FCC also asked for comment on whether to revoke existing equipment authorization, Rosenworcel said in an online statement.
According to Healy, merchants could be stuck with gear that’s illegal to sell.
In 2018, Congress voted to stop federal agencies from buying gear from the five companies named by the FCC. The agency said earlier that the companies aren’t eligible to receive federal subsidies, and also has barred Chinese phone companies from doing business in the U.S.
The order released Friday was required under the Secure Equipment Act – a bill President Biden signed into law on November 2021.
The big picture: Huawei and ZTE are two of the world’s biggest suppliers of telecom equipment.
- Countries including Canada, Britain and Australia have ramped up restrictions against the use of 5G technologies from Huawei and ZTE in recent years.
- Huawei executives have previously said the company does not give data to the Chinese government and that its equipment is not compromised.
- The company’s chief security officer Andy Purdy has also argued that a ban would hurt American jobs because it spends over $11 billion a year from American suppliers.
References:
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/25/fcc-bans-huawei-zte-equipment-national-security
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Germany’s Interior Ministry is examining all Chinese components that are already installed in the country’s 5G network, Minister Nancy Faeser was quoted as saying on Sunday, as Berlin re-evaluates its relationship with top trade partner China.
“We have to protect our communication networks,” Faeser told Bild am Sonntag newspaper, adding that the examination’s three priorities were identifying risks, averting dangers and avoiding dependencies.
“This is especially true for our critical infrastructure,” she said.
Germany has been considering banning certain components from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in its telecoms networks, a government source told Reuters last month, in a potentially significant move to address security concerns.
The German government has been wary of expressly singling out Huawei but there are concerns that such companies’ close links to Beijing’s security services mean that embedding them in the mobile networks of the future could give Chinese spies and even saboteurs access to essential infrastructure.
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/germany-examining-chinese-components-its-5g-network-interior-minister-says-2023-04-15/
EU gives Huawei millions in R&D funding:
Huawei has received millions of euros from the EU to fund some of its R&D activities, despite the EU itself heaping pressure on telcos to avoid using the vendor’s kit.
The Financial Times reported (paywall) on Wednesday that Huawei is participating in no fewer than 11 projects under the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, which runs to 2027 and has a budget of €95.5 billion. One of its pillars, called ‘Global challenges and European industrial competitiveness’, covers everything from healthcare, agriculture and animal welfare, to high-performance computing, transport, and smart networks and services, among others.
Huawei has hoovered up €3.89 million, which isn’t much a of dent, but as the FT notes, this is more about a Chinese vendor playing a role in the development of next-generation network technologies that could one day underpin European comms infrastructure.
That wouldn’t be a problem if the EU was fine with Huawei technology being present in European telco networks. But it is very much not fine with that.
Thierry Breton, EU commissioner in charge of the internal market, emphasised at an event last week the importance for telcos to take seriously the EU’s 5G toolbox framework.
Developed in 2020, it stopped short of banning Huawei from networks, but advised operators not to buy kit from what the EU termed ‘high-risk’ vendors that it warned may jeopardise the security of their networks. It essentially meant the EU could be anti-Chinese tech without resorting to bombast.
Breton last week praised those telcos that have interpreted the advice as more of a tacit instruction, but noted that others “are late”, and urged those late-runners to get a move on.
At the same time, a separate FT report alleged that the EU is close to issuing an outright ban on member states using companies that represent a risk to the security of 5G networks. Citing Breton, the report claims just a third of EU countries have taken action to prevent Huawei 5G gear from ending up in comms networks.
The EU is also quite prepared to use its influence to pressure countries beyond its borders into not using Chinese network equipment.
The EU’s envoy to Malaysia, in tandem with their US counterpart, last month warned Malaysia against taking any action that might open the door to Huawei. The intervention was prompted by the government’s decision to review the tender process for its state-backed shared 5G network. Since then, Malaysia has confirmed plans to create a second national wholesale network, and doesn’t seem particularly bothered by telcos collaborating with Chinese vendors, undoubtedly to the US and the EU’s chagrin.
This staunch anti-China stance therefore makes Huawei’s participation in Horizon Europe all the more puzzling.
If Huawei really does represent a threat to the future security of Europe’s 5G infrastructure, then there is no justification for paying it millions of euros to help design the future of this infrastructure.
https://telecoms.com/522224/eu-gives-huawei-millions-in-rd-funding/