Australia joins 6G push in move to counter China influence | Stockhead
Australia has joined a coalition to co-ordinate the development of secure networks in a bid to counter China’s growing influence over communications. Australia has joined a coalition to co-ordinate the development of secure networks in a bid to counter China’s growing influence over communications.
The push is intended to serve as a counterweight to China’s telecom ambitions. Pic: Getty Images. By Joe KellyAustralia has joined a newUS-led partnershipwith more than 20 allies spanning Europe, the Indo-Pacific and Western Hemisphere aimed at developing secure, next generation 6G networks. The move will help ensure that like-minded nations stay ahead of China in therace to shape the futureof global communications. It also reflects growing concern in Washington atBeijing’s effortsto try and lead the transition from 5G to 6G while dominating the supply chains needed to facilitate the next generation of wireless communication. On Monday morning, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the US Department of Commerce launched its “Call to Action for 6G Leadership and Security” to advance a “shared vision” for the future of communications. Arielle Roth, assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator, said the Call to Action reflected an “unprecedented level of international co-ordination on the future of communications technology”. “Today’s action recognises that 6G will be dramatically different from 5G, and that advancing US and allied leadership requires a dramatically different playbook,” she said. “By working now with trusted partners, we will ensure that next generation networks reflect our shared security interests, strengthen our competitiveness, and drive innovation. ”The path forwardWithin the next four weeks, members of the partnership will identify and designate expert 6G “points of contact” within their governments and exchange comprehensive lists and contact information to facilitate ongoing dialogue. Each country will also designate a relevant agency responsible for managing communications with the contact group. Within the next three months, members will engage with the telecommunications sector to understand the political and economic issues around developing “open, interoperable, secure, resilient, AI-supported” 6G on a domestic, regional and global scale. They will then convene to discuss the findings and identify “the potential for more co-ordinated approaches. ”Within the next six months, the global partnership will start to develop informal strategies on how to support resilient and secure 6G supply chains into the future and, within 12 months, hold an in person meeting to review progress. POLITICO reported that the push was intended to serve as a counterweight toChina’stelecom ambitions and the global reach of companies such as Huawei and ZTE. It said that US officials viewed closer collaboration with allies as critical to shaping international technical standards ahead of the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference in Shanghai where key decisions on the future of wireless networks will be taken. Back in 2012, the US House Select Committee on Intelligence released a report concluding that Huawei and ZTE could not be trusted and posed risks to US telecommunications infrastructure. It recommended that US government exclude the use of their equipment. However, it was not until February 2018 that US intelligence agencies advised Americans against using Huawei and ZTE products, with Congress prohibiting federal agencies from using their equipment in August that year. In June 2020, the Federal Communications Commission designated both companies as threats to US national security. First moverAustralia has also played a leading role in banning Chinese participation in the rollout of 5G telecommunications infrastructure. The Turnbull government took the world-first decision to ban Huawei from participating in the rollout of 5G mobile infrastructure due to national security concerns in August 2018. Speaking to the Henry Jackson Society in London in March 2019, Turnbull said that one of the final decisions of his government was to “ban telecommunications companies which could not meet our security requirements such as Huawei and ZTE from providing equipment to our new 5G phone networks, on national security grounds. ”“We were the first nation to do so. And we so decided not because another country told us to let alone for protectionist reasons, but to defend our own sovereignty and to hedge against changing times,” he said. Other nations to participate in the partnership include Albania, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This article first appeared in The Australian asAustralia joins 6G push in move to counter China influence.