Canadian telco Telus backs China’s Huawei

One of Canada’s largest phone companies telco Telus is standing by its partnership with Huawei Technologies Co., the Chinese firm at the center of rising diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Ottawa.

Canadian telco Telus backs China’s Huawei

Telus Corp. sent a memo to employees last week, sticking by its work with Huawei, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported. The memo was signed by Eros Spadotto, executive vice president of technology strategy at the Vancouver-based company.

“Clearly, Huawei remains a viable and reliable participant in the Canadian telecommunications space, bolstered by globally leading innovation, comprehensive security measures, and new software upgrades,” the memo said, according to an excerpt published by the Globe. It hailed the “positive, transparent and innovative-centric partnership we have enjoyed with Huawei.”

Telus spokespeople didn’t immediately return requests for comment from Bloomberg News on Saturday.

Canada is currently conducting a security review ahead of a rollout of 5G technology, including whether to ban Huawei. China’s ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye, warned this week of repercussions if Canada did that.

Other so-called Five Eyes countries including the U.S. and Australia have placed restrictions on Huawei’s operations given its close ties to the Chinese government, moves that place pressure on Canada to make a decision.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, is preparing an executive order that could significantly restrict Chinese state-owned telecom companies from operating in the U.S. over national security concerns, according to people familiar with the matter.

The order, which hasn’t yet been presented to the president, would not mention companies such as Huawei or ZTE Corp. by name and would not outright ban U.S. sales by the firms. But it would give greater authority to the Commerce Department to review products and purchases by companies connected to adversarial countries, including China, one of the people said.

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