B.C. telecom stands behind the security of Huawei
Two firms will bring high-speed internet to rural Lac La Hache
VANCOUVER— As far as Bob Allen is concerned, “Chinese equipment is the most secure thing” in the network owned by his company ABC Communications.
ABC is partnering with Huawei Technologies Co. for a project that will quadruple the speed of the best internet package available to people in Lac La Hache, B.C., and, to Allen, it makes perfect sense. He has no reservations about the pilot project, which was announced Friday, days after the U.S. levelled criminal charges against the China-based telecom that include allegations the company endangered America’s national and economic security.
Allen said Lac La Hache, or “Lake of the Axe,” was chosen out of 180 possible locations for the project because of its existing use of fibre optics and 4G wireless broadband technology called longterm evolution or LTE. And while small, the town’s population of 860 people was a large enough for a pilot project, he said.
The project, which involves significant engineering and field labour, is funded by Huawei and promises to deliver speeds of up to 100 megabits per second to the town. ABC’s current top-speed
package taps out at 25 megabits per second. Although the demand for faster internet isn’t increasing, the appetite for data is, Allen said.
Huawei, he said, was the only global company willing to sell equipment to a small buyer like ABC back in 2014, helping to launch the company. Contrary to the warnings of some experts that Huawei could pose a security risk, Allen feels Chinese equipment is the most secure because of what he called the “in-depth analysis” the Canadian government conducts on technology coming out of the country.
“No product should be deployed in a communication network that has not been reviewed by these independent laboratories that are hired by the government to review the Huawei equipment for any back doors or any security implications,” Allen said, adding, “it’s really the only equipment that I deploy that I can say that about.
“All of the other equipment that I deploy is largely based on trust.”
While tiny in scale, the project underscores how the Chinese giant continues to address a gaping need in remote areas around the world even as it battles an international furor about the security of its equipment. It’s winning over customers with cheap, functional kit and paidfor trials in places largely ignored by larger incumbents. Some two dozen U.S. telecom companies have used Huawei’s equipment to provide services in remote regions.
“Huawei products bring urban internet speeds to rural subscribers around the world,” Huawei said in a statement Friday.
The telecom regulator ruled in 2016 that all Canadians should have access to high-speed internet, directing the industry to work toward providing universal minimum speeds of 50 megabits per second for downloads and 10 megabits per second for uploads. Huawei said in the statement the pilot will meet that mandate.
“It’s really exciting,” says Al Richmond, the elected representative for Lac La Hache in the regional government. “If this equipment works, it will be a new dawn for rural British Columbians — an opportunity for economic development where people can work from home.”