New Zealand’s international spy agency has banned mobile company Spark from using Huawei equipment in its planned 5G upgrade, saying it posed a “significant network security risk.”
The action follows a similar ban in Australia, where the Chinese telecommunications giant was blocked in August from rolling out Australia’s 5G network due to security concerns.
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Spark says it is disappointed with the decision by New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau. But the company said in a statement Wednesday it is confident it can still launch its 5G network by July 2020.
Huawei suffered a setback in the U.S. market in 2012 when a congressional report said it was a security risk and warned phone companies not to buy its equipment.
China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner.
