Huawei’s chairman announced that Huawei will continue to stay in Australia and said that it will eventually overcome the government’s ban to participate in Australia’s 5G launch.
Chairman John Lord stood in front of the parliament building and announced that he would continue to renew the sponsorship agreement with the Canberra Raiders football team. He said that the introduction of 5G technology will take a “long time”, and Huawei will continue to lobby for participation in Australia’s 5G network.
“I, John Lord, and Huawei’s board of directors hope that Huawei will participate in 5G space in Australia in the future. This is the government’s decision, and we will continue to show the government the benefits of letting Huawei participate.”
He also responded to the message of Minister of Communications Paul Fletcher about not having Huawei and not making Australia’s network more expensive and technology lower, saying that it would be better to have more competition and to keep “leading technology leaders” in the market.
The coalition government last year banned Huawei from providing equipment to Australia’s 5G. Lord said that even though Huawei still stays in Australia, the company values the Australian market. Huawei’s sales revenue in Australia last year was 650 million Australian dollars. Lord said that 55% of Australians use Huawei technology in 4G networks.
Former Secretary of Defense and former head of the security agency ASIO Dennis Richardson attended the sponsorship ceremony as a director of the Canberra Raiders team. Richardson declined to comment on the 5G ban, saying it has nothing to do with sponsoring the team. “Safety is a national issue. I am a director of the Canberra Raiders team.”