Australia’s new government yesterday said Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co (華為) will remain shut out of bidding to build Australia’s national broadband network, on advice from security agencies.
The previous Labor government last year banned Huawei from helping build infrastructure for the National Broadband Network (NBN) on “strong advice” from intelligence operatives. Huawei criticized the decision and denied it posed a security risk.
However, Australian Attorney-General George Brandis said the new conservative government of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, which took power after winning Sept. 7 national elections, had no plans to relax this stance.
“The decision of the previous government not to permit Huawei to tender for the NBN was made on advice from the national security agencies,” Brandis said in e-mailed comments.
“Since the election, the new government has had further briefings from the national security agencies. No decision has been made by the new government to change the existing policy,” he said.
Brandis said the government would not comment on advice from the agencies.
The new government has announced a strategic review of the NBN in hopes of cutting its cost to A$29.5 billion (US$28 billion). Huawei is hoping for a change of stance in the wake of the review.
“Huawei understands no decisions have been made by the government regarding the NBN, pending outcomes of the strategic review,” a spokesman for the company said.
Brandis’ comments come after Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology provider, mounted an intense lobbying campaign in Canberra for the ban to be lifted, the Australian Financial Review reported.
The business newspaper said Brandis had overruled a push by some colleagues within the government to relax the ban on Huawei.
However, the paper said other Cabinet members were against changing the previous government’s policy and had expressed concerns that granting Huawei the ability to bid could be seen as a problem by the US.
Washington has previously raised concerns that Huawei’s alleged ties to the Chinese state could see telecoms equipment it supplied being used for spying and cyberattacks.
The company denies it has any direct links to the Chinese state, but the US Congress last year called for its exclusion from US government contracts. Huawei has accused Washington of protectionism.
The Australian Financial Review said it was not clear whether the Chinese company would be excluded from bidding for less sensitive equipment for the NBN.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS