Huawei offers Australia source code access

Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei has offered the Australian government unrestricted access to its source code and hardware to appease fears of backdoors in its products, according to a BBC report. The Australian government had previously prevented the company from providing hardware for its national broadband network, citing concerns about the company's ties to the Chinese military.

Huawei has been viewed with suspicion in other countries as well. The Intelligence Committee of the US House of Representatives had recently stated that US companies should avoid doing business with the company; Huawei has also faced similar suspicions in the UK. To allay these fears, Huawei is now working with intelligence agencies, including the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and has provided these officials with access to its hardware and software code. Last week, a report from the US government also seemed to indicate that US officials had found no actual backdoors in Huawei's products.

The access the company is providing to the Australian government is intended with a similar goal to its cooperation with UK officials. John Lord, chairman of the Australian branch of the company, said that the company had "done a very poor job of communicating", and will have to "take full responsibility for that." He also suggested that the Australian government set up a collaborative evaluation centre to test telecoms equipment intended for the national network which would be funded by various vendors in concert, similar to the collaboration with the UK government.

(fab)