Canada studying U.K.’s decision on Huawei, no timeline on its own review

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains says that Canada is studying the U.K.’s decision to allow Huawei to play a role in its 5G network deployment.

In response to reporters’ questions, Bains declined to comment on whether there is a timeline on when the government will make a decision in its Huawei review.

“We have been very clear that we’re going to take the appropriate time that we need to make a decision that’s in the best interest of Canadians to make sure that they feel safe and secure,” he told reporters.

Canada is the only country in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance that hasn’t made a decision on Huawei yet. The other countries in the alliance include, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K and the U.S.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that “high-risk vendors” will be able to participate in the “non-sensitive” parts of the deployment of 5G. He ruled that they cannot participate in more than 35 percent of the deployment.

“Those are the solutions that are being examined,” Bains told reporters regarding the U.K.’s strategy. “I’m not going to jump to any conclusion of what that solution may look like vis-a-vis core and non-core.”

Bains said that Canada will keep talking to allies about their decisions.

Source: Reuters, CPAC TV