Key Telstra Partner Under Investigation By Authorities

Authorities in China are investigating key Telstra 5G partner Ericsson in what is believed to be fall out following the Australian and US ban of Huawei Technologies.

Some 20 investigators from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation raided Ericsson’s Beijing offices late last week.

In what is seen as a tit for tat battle the move is expected to have little impact on Telstra’s build out a 5G network in partnership with Ericsson and Nokia in Australia.

Peter Olofsson an Ericsson spokesman confirmed the investigation claiming it follows complaints from unspecified sources about the company’s intellectual property-licensing practices.

A bruising fight is under way between the U.S. and China over 5G, which promises superfast data transmission that will underpin autonomous driving vehicles, robotic assembly lines, remote surgery and other emerging businesses.

In Australia telecommunications operators are expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming years to build out new 5G networks.

In China, the government and major carriers have said they plan trials of 5G in 2019 and aim to roll it out on a larger scale in 2020. In the U.S., companies are expected to test pilot network installations by the end of the year and the government is preparing to auction off broad swaths of airwaves.

Australia and the USA have effectively barred Huawei from domestic 5G networks claiming that the Chinese company is beholden to the Communist Party and thus presents an espionage and security risk in networks that will be pervasive.

Huawei denies the allegations.

About Post Author

David Richards

David Richards has been writing about technology for more than 30 years. A former Fleet Street journalist, he wrote the Award Winning Series on the Federated Ships Painters + Dockers Union for the Bulletin that led to a Royal Commission. He is also a Logie Winner for Outstanding Contribution To TV Journalism with a story called The Werribee Affair. In 1997, he built the largest Australian technology media company and prior to that the third largest PR company that became the foundation company for Ogilvy PR. Today he writes about technology and the impact on both business and consumers.