Adelaide City Council’s super-fast internet network is using banned Huawei technology

Hardware from a Chinese telco company banned by the US, along with Australia’s NBN and 5G rollouts over spying fears, is being used by the Adelaide City Council’s super-fast internet network.

Adelaide City Council’s super-fast internet network is using hardware from a controversial Chinese technology company banned from Australia’s NBN and 5G rollouts over spying fears.

Ten Gigabit Adelaide — a high-performance network across commercial buildings in the CBD — is using Huawei technology to connect premises to internet provider TPG.

The Chinese telco giant has faced an international backlash over fears its equipment could be used to spy on other companies and countries.

A leading defence analyst and an SA senator have now raised concerns — primarily about the vulnerability of Lot Fourteen, which will house Australia’s first space agency — about Huawei technology in Adelaide.

NEW GIG: An artist’s impression of the Lot Fourteen revamp which will house Australia’s first space agency — a particular concern regarding the Huawei technology.

Adelaide City Council has downplayed concerns about the use of the technology but says it is unable to guarantee any network hardware is free from security risks.

Australia last year became the first country to block Huawei technology from forthcoming 5G networks over safety concerns. New Zealand followed suit.

The US banned companies from using Huawei networking equipment in 2012 and Japan has excluded the telco company from public procurement.

Ten Gigabit Adelaide has been spruiked as one of South Australia’s most important infrastructure projects.

It is expected to underpin Adelaide’s reputation as a world leader in emerging employment opportunities and technology development in the space, defence, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence industries.

Senator Rex Patrick

South Australian Senator Rex Patrick, a former defence company director and Australian Navy submariner, said the Ten Gigabit Adelaide project needed to be investigated.

“The City of Adelaide is not equipped to conduct a full and proper assessment of its proposal,” Senator Patrick said.

“Rather, it should be fully examined by the Australian Signals Directorate and/or the Australian Cyber Security Centre from a national security and national interest perspective.”

Adelaide City Council growth director Ian Hill said it had never questioned the use of the Huawei hardware because it was a commercial decision for TPG.

Mr Hill said Huawei infrastructure was used by many organisations nationally for networking purposes and that TPG was highly respected in the Australian telecommunications sector.

“The City of Adelaide isn’t able to guarantee any networking hardware is free from security risk, irrespective of the manufacturer,” Mr Hill told the Sunday Mail.

“Every business and organisation needs to manage their own cybersecurity risks.”

Mr Hill said the council had been working with TPG and Lot Fourteen to ensure businesses and state and federal government agencies could access the Ten Gigabit service.

Huawei has been banned from Australia’s NBN and 5G rollouts over spying fears.

“The network will enable businesses to share and receive high volumes of data at phenomenal 10Gbps data speeds and we certainly want as many businesses as possible to benefit from this world-leading service,” Mr Hill said.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings said all companies would need to do their due diligence on the security of their networking requirements.

“It will be particularly important for companies doing Defence or national security business to make sure their information and intellectual property is secure,” said Mr Jennings, the former Defence Department strategy secretary.

Mr Jennings said the Ten Gigabit project was not related to the future 5G mobile network but suggested concerns associated with 5G also could be pertinent.

He referred to comments last August by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who said new security reforms “place obligations on telecommunications companies to protect Australian networks from unauthorised interference or access that might prejudice our national security”.

“The involvement of vendors who are likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law, may risk failure by the carrier to adequately protect a 5G network from unauthorised access or interference,” Mr Morrison said at the time.

TPG — the company rolling out the network for the council — has not responded to requests for comment for more than a week.

Renewal SA — the State Government agency in charge of Lot Fourteen — the Home Affairs Department and Defence Department did not provide responses addressing questions directly related to Huawei concerns.