According to a Reuters report, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters in Ottawa that providers who have Huawei and ZTE’s equipment installed will be required to cease its use and remove it in line with the announcement.

Companies will be required to dismantle and remove their 5G gear by 2024 and would not be reimbursed. Companies using 4G equipment must be removed by 2027, Champagne ordered.

The Canadian Government’s decision to ban the Chinese providers was already expected following diplomatic tensions. The Five Eyes network—consisting of Canada, US, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand—has already banned the equipment.

According to Reuters, it was in September 2018 that Canada first announced it will review possible threats to national security in adopting Huawei equipment.

In December 2018, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on a US warrant alleging that she violated US trade sanctions against Iran, according to iTWire, but was freed last September 2021.

Following Meng’s arrest, two Canadians in Beijing were arrested and accused of espionage. The two were released the same day as Meng.

Huawei Canada said it was disappointed with the government’s decision, which it described as “political.”

"This is an unfortunate political decision that has nothing to do with cyber security or any of the technologies in question," it said in a statement.

GlobalData associate analyst in thematic team Rory Gopsill commented on the ban, warning the expulsion may have consequences: Western/allied countries are contributing to splinternet, an internet fragmented into competing technospheres.

“Before this, Huawei had been expelled from the 5G networks of the US and numerous allies, including the UK, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Taiwan. Increasingly unwelcome in Western countries, Huawei, ZTE, and other Chinese tech companies such as Hikvision will have to export their technological products elsewhere,” Gopsill said.

Gopsill also provided context that China is already having success exporting ‘safe cities’, referring to packages of broadband and facial surveillance technologies for smart cities to countries in Southeast Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Supplying infrastructure to these regions, according to Gopsill, is how competing technospheres form.

“As for Canada, its 5G rollout will certainly be slowed by this decision. Providers that have already installed equipment from Huawei and ZTE will need to remove and replace it and current disruptions to global supply chains will not make this any cheaper or any easier,” he said

“According to GlobalData’s Patent Analytics, China’s granting authority has filed more 5G patents than any other country since January 2019 – more than double the US’ publications and roughly quadruple the European Patent Office’s. Shunning Chinese 5G providers means the US and its allies need to invest more in 5G technologies to maintain competitive network quality,” Gopsill concluded.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 23 May 2022.