Telstra will be keeping the Huawei equipment currently used to operate its newly-acquired Digicel network, despite Aussie telcos being banned from using technology from the Chinese-owned company.
The $2.4 billion, Government-funded acquisition of the Pacific’s largest telco was widely viewed as a political move to block Chinese interests from buying it.
Digicel has north of 2.5 million subscribers across PNG, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Tahiti. These 3G and 4G networks rely upon Huawei gear that has been banned in Australia.
The Australian government, through Export Finance Australia, paid for the lion’s share of the purchase, providing A$1.97 billion with Telstra contributing US$270m in equity.
Telstra, however, will not be updating the Huawei gear in the immediate future.
“In terms of any refreshes or upgrades in future dates – that’s when we’ll look to fall in line with the standard that we have here in Australia,” said the head of Telstra’s international division Oliver Camplin-Warner at Telstra’s trade event Vantage22.
Huawei has been blocked from various infrastructure projects in Australia since 2012, when ASIO recommended the Chinese company be banned from the tender process to build the National Broadband Network.
When local telco started to expand their 5G networks in 2018, Huawei were banned again, on security grounds.
Since then, the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand have issued similar bans against Huawei.