NATO emphasizes the need for secure 5G communications

Dec 6, 2019 12:13 GMT  ·  By

US President Donald Trump described Huawei as a “security risk” after NATO officials emphasized the need for secure 5G communications in a meeting this week.

Donald Trump revealed in a statement that several other countries that looked into the security implications of partnering with Huawei eventually decided not to work with the Chinese tech giant for the development of 5G networks.

“I do think it’s a security risk, it’s a security danger,” Trump was quoted as saying by Reuters.

“And I spoke to Italy and they look like they are not going to go forward with that. I spoke to other countries, they are not going to go forward. Everybody I’ve spoken to is not going to go forward.”

NATO, on the other hand, did not comment on the Huawei security concerns, but emphasized that state members need to guarantee the security of their communications.

“NATO and Allies, within their respective authority, are committed to ensuring the security of our communications, including 5G, recognizing the need to rely on secure and resilient systems,” NATO explained.

Huawei ban

Chinese tech giant Huawei was blacklist by the US government back in mid-May, and the company was no longer allowed to work together with American firms and use their products.

This involves, among other, the use of software and hardware developed by American companies, such as Android and Windows, both of which have until then been used on a series of Huawei devices, including smartphones and PCs launched globally.

Huawei immediately started a more aggressive push for its very own in-house developed operating system to replace Android, and company officials recently downplayed the need for Google apps even in worldwide markets. Huawei can still become the number one phone maker, founder Ren Zhengfei said, even without Android and Google apps installed on its devices.