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Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

cbc.ca

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Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#22

I'm as much a proponent of free trade as the next guy, but I do think there's a strong argument for trying to build and maintaining one's own infrastructure whenever possible, even if it's a bit more expensive. Not just for national security concerns, but because they're big domestic projects and it's nice to have to the talent and knowledge at home.

> but I do think there's a strong argument for trying to build and maintaining one's own infrastructure whenever possible, even if it's a bit more expensive.

In the semiconductor/telecom equipment industry with very specialized and globalized supply chain, it's impractical if not impossible. No single country can have their entire electronic infrastructure within their own country borders, not China, not U.S., not even the European Union, certainly not Canada. So yeah, it's not about money.

> because they're big domestic projects and it's nice to have to the talent and knowledge at home.

That's wishful thinking. In the free capitalistic society with free trades, the capital(money) and efficiency drives the supply chain. With a little bit of geo-politics, perhaps it could happen, but even then it takes time and the government have to step in and invest - lots of manufacturing industries are capital heavy but margin thin, don't bet on private companies or corporations would invest against the globalization.

Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#23
post #5

For a long period of time, these companies would not publicly commit to going ahead without Huawei for 5G, and despite pressure from the US (and warnings from CSIS), the Canadian government still has not made an announcement about whether Huawei would be restricted as a supplier. Many Canadians were frustrated by this, feeling like they didn't want Huawei networks but that they weren't being heard. It occurs to me no…

Just goes to show that Canadian telecom policy is controlled by telecoms, not by the government. It's very cozy and regularly functions to discourage competition. Canadian telecom policy still revolves around "facilities-based competition", where it's believed that new entrants should build out a new network. It's designed to fail. Even the incumbents, Bell and Telus, share a 3G/4G mobile network to avoid redundant i…

I agree with all your points, but does this go to show that?

I'm not aware of what was going on behind the scenes. It could easily have been that the Canadian government told the telecoms a long time ago that they wouldn't be allowed to use Huawei, but kept this secret for the sake of contract negotiations. Do you know this not to be the case?

Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#24
post #5

For a long period of time, these companies would not publicly commit to going ahead without Huawei for 5G, and despite pressure from the US (and warnings from CSIS), the Canadian government still has not made an announcement about whether Huawei would be restricted as a supplier. Many Canadians were frustrated by this, feeling like they didn't want Huawei networks but that they weren't being heard. It occurs to me no…

Oh, and don't worry, Bell, Telus and Rogers still sell Huawei phones to consumers. Probably helps them hammer down other Android phone manufacturers on price.

Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#25
post #22

I'm as much a proponent of free trade as the next guy, but I do think there's a strong argument for trying to build and maintaining one's own infrastructure whenever possible, even if it's a bit more expensive. Not just for national security concerns, but because they're big domestic projects and it's nice to have to the talent and knowledge at home.

> but I do think there's a strong argument for trying to build and maintaining one's own infrastructure whenever possible, even if it's a bit more expensive. In the semiconductor/telecom equipment industry with very specialized and globalized supply chain, it's impractical if not impossible. No single country can have their entire electronic infrastructure within their own country borders, not China, not U.S., not ev…

And that’s precisely where tariffs should come in.

Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#26
post #5

For a long period of time, these companies would not publicly commit to going ahead without Huawei for 5G, and despite pressure from the US (and warnings from CSIS), the Canadian government still has not made an announcement about whether Huawei would be restricted as a supplier. Many Canadians were frustrated by this, feeling like they didn't want Huawei networks but that they weren't being heard. It occurs to me no…

Just goes to show that Canadian telecom policy is controlled by telecoms, not by the government. It's very cozy and regularly functions to discourage competition. Canadian telecom policy still revolves around "facilities-based competition", where it's believed that new entrants should build out a new network. It's designed to fail. Even the incumbents, Bell and Telus, share a 3G/4G mobile network to avoid redundant i…

> Just goes to show that Canadian telecom policy is controlled by telecoms, not by the government. It's very cozy and regularly functions to discourage competition.

It's easy to say that, but Canada has a smaller population than California, but spread over the surface area larger than that of the United States. How many carriers, and how much competition, can you possibly expect in that environment? Especially in an industry that requires so much infrastructure.

Canada at the national level has Bell, Telus and Rogers/Fido. There's a few more regional players like Freedom Mobile, and then there's Videotron in Quebec.

Then on top of that there's the former Crown Corporation (now subsidiary of Bell/BCE) NorthwesTel, which provides services in the Territories (i.e the north of the north, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#27
Huge relief to the government, who can now "approve" Huawei, and can go to the Chinese government and say, "see look we play fair in Canada", and still be sure that this will mean nothing and that no Huawei equipment will be used.

Wouldn't be surprised if the government asked the establishment telcos to do this favour for them. Huawei and the notion of them building Canadian 5G polls insanely badly in Canada and the government was in a tough place here.

Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#28
post #5

For a long period of time, these companies would not publicly commit to going ahead without Huawei for 5G, and despite pressure from the US (and warnings from CSIS), the Canadian government still has not made an announcement about whether Huawei would be restricted as a supplier. Many Canadians were frustrated by this, feeling like they didn't want Huawei networks but that they weren't being heard. It occurs to me no…

Just goes to show that Canadian telecom policy is controlled by telecoms, not by the government. It's very cozy and regularly functions to discourage competition. Canadian telecom policy still revolves around "facilities-based competition", where it's believed that new entrants should build out a new network. It's designed to fail. Even the incumbents, Bell and Telus, share a 3G/4G mobile network to avoid redundant i…

-Canadian telecom policy still revolves around "facilities-based competition", where it's believed that new entrants should build out a new network.

Didn’t CRTC force the incumbents to sell wholesale network access to new players like Freedom Mobile?

Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#29
post #5

For a long period of time, these companies would not publicly commit to going ahead without Huawei for 5G, and despite pressure from the US (and warnings from CSIS), the Canadian government still has not made an announcement about whether Huawei would be restricted as a supplier. Many Canadians were frustrated by this, feeling like they didn't want Huawei networks but that they weren't being heard. It occurs to me no…

Oh, and don't worry, Bell, Telus and Rogers still sell Huawei phones to consumers. Probably helps them hammer down other Android phone manufacturers on price.

I don't have an issue with Huawei phones being available. I have the option not to buy them. It's not the same as network equipment.

Re: Bell, Telus to use Nokia and Ericsson, not Huawei, in building their 5G networks

#30

I'm as much a proponent of free trade as the next guy, but I do think there's a strong argument for trying to build and maintaining one's own infrastructure whenever possible, even if it's a bit more expensive. Not just for national security concerns, but because they're big domestic projects and it's nice to have to the talent and knowledge at home.

One of the reasons used by Canada's telcos to rationalize Canada's sky-high wireless rates is that it costs them more to build out the networks than it does for other countries. I would hate to give them one more excuse to lean on by having them source this equipment domestically.

I'm American, but I'd love to see more of our infrastructure projects pseudo-nationalized, personally. Governments manage to build roads and deliver mail just fine, and I don't see why digital infrastructure couldn't have more government financing and involvement as well.
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