Spark in limbo amid Huawei manoeuvres
Spark understands the reasons for the block on it using equipment from Chinese giant Huawei to build a 5G network, but hasn’t worked out whether and how those issues could be addressed, managing director Simon Moutter says.
The Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) blocked a proposal by Spark to use 5G equipment from Huawei in December, unleashing a whirlwind that some fear risks souring relations between New Zealand and China.
British media reports said last week that Britain’s GCHQ spy agency had concluded that the risks of allowing Huawei to build 5G, which is the next generation in mobile technology, could be mitigated.
That has led to suggestions that New Zealand has taken a tougher stance on Huawei than Britain is about to take.
But Moutter agreed that there did not appear to be much daylight between the stances of the GCHQ and the GCSB which also made it clear in December that it had not ‘‘banned’’ Huawei and that Spark’s proposal could be revised and resubmitted.
‘‘They have said they talk to each other,’’ Moutter said.
‘‘We are clear on what the GCSB’s concerns are, but we are not at all sure what they believe the solutions might be. It is basically ‘our problem to solve’.’’
Moutter said Spark could withdraw its original proposal ‘‘and figure out how we might make a new one that better addresses the concerns and has a narrower role, whatever that might be’’.
‘‘Or we could go back and say ‘OK we understand your concerns, here are some additional mitigations that we believe would address the concern that you have raised’.’’
Moutter said he did not know when Spark would make that decision. ‘‘You have to put us down as considering our options, really.’’
But any official word from Britain’s GCHQ could be very helpful, he said.
‘‘We will be very interested in any statement from them.
‘‘If they do allow Huawei they may well make some comments on how that risk mitigation would be done.’’
Huawei NZ deputy managing director Andrew Bowater has suggested Huawei could ban Chinese nationals from installing its 5G gear in New Zealand and instead use only Kiwis, and pay ‘‘millions’’ for an independent lab under the GCSB’s control to certify its equipment.
But there has been no sign either offer has cut any ice.
Moutter said the Huawei issue would not hold back Spark from pressing ahead with 5G.
Instead, the ‘‘only roadblock moving forward’’ was getting radio spectrum sorted, he said.
Spark has been champing at the bit to invest in 5G but wants the Government to decide how spectrum rights in the 3.5GHz Spark managing director band could be tidied up and re-allocated to telecommunications firms, likely through an auction.
Among the decisions the Government has yet to make is whether it will be the first to recognise a successful Waitangi Tribunal claim to radio spectrum by Ma¯ ori, and whether 3.5GHz spectrum could be reassigned ahead of some existing rights in the band expiring in October 2022.
Communications Minister Kris Faafoi said work was progressing on 5G.
‘‘But I am going to stay consistent to my approach which is to get it right rather than rush in,’’ he said.
‘‘While I appreciate the commercial interest, I am working through the process carefully to ensure we make good decisions in the interest of all New Zealanders.’’
Moutter said Spark still wanted to have a 5G mobile network up and running by July next year, but it would take about six months from the time it got access to radio spectrum to have a network in place.
He warned Spark might have to make a ‘‘sub-optimal’’ decision to invest in more 4G mobile network capacity if it didn’t get clarity on 5G by August or September.
‘‘We are roughly six or seven months away from that point I think,’’ he said.
‘‘It is basically ‘our problem to solve’.’’ Simon Moutter