Australia’s 5G Huawei ban ‘the right move’ for security: Michael Dell

US tech billionaire Michael Dell has praised Australia’s early move to block Huawei from involvement in building its 5G ­telecoms infrastructure.

Dell chief executive Michael Dell wants a piece of Australia’s 5G infrastructure. Picture: AFP

US tech billionaire Michael Dell has praised Australia’s early move to block Huawei from involvement in building its 5G ­telecoms infrastructure, describing it as “the right move” on security grounds, amid new claims the China tech giant poses a national security risk and is effectively pulling out of the Australian market.

Mr Dell, the founder and chief executive of Dell Technologies who is worth an estimated $US52.6bn ($70bn), is touting an industry-wide shift towards Open Radio Access Networks (O-RAN), which would negate the need for specialised equipment and instead let telcos use software to run their networks on standardised hardware.

Dell has recently landed 5G deals with the likes of DISH in the US and Vodafone and Orange in Europe, and it’s understood it has held talks with the Australian government about it using technology in local telco infrastructure.

“I believe it was the right move,” Mr Dell said of Australia‘s move to block Huawei.

“Countries are much more aware of the importance that telecommunications networks have in the security of a nation.

“We have really for some time now, in response to demands from many of the largest carriers, building up this capability.

“The O-RAN movement has really taken hold and with our supply chain and integration capabilities, and our strong alliance with VMware, we’ve created a great set of capabilities that is highly applicable to the 5G rollouts in Australia and many other countries too.”

It follows revelations that Huawei is effectively pulling out of Australia, with its local workforce down to just 145 from a peak of about 1200.

The Chinese state-linked company has closed research labs and retrenched hundreds of employees after its revenue plunged following bans on its involvement in the country’s broadband and 5G networks, according to financial statements filed with Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

A new report from a European defence agency also identified that Huawei’s P40 5G smartphone, on sale in Australia, poses security risks including the potential for malware.

Huawei was contacted for comment.

Mr Dell said Australia was one of the strongest performing markets for his company and he was keeping a close eye on some of our fastest-growing tech start-ups and what they’re accomplishing.

“You’ve got some great things happening in Australia. Canva, Atlassian and Afterpay are becoming great companies,” he said.

“It is inspiring to see so many new companies, new entrepreneurs, new business coming through, and you’ve got some great new start-that are making a real impact on the global stage. It’s inspiring to see how many hard tech problems are being solved by entrepreneurs going after them at an unprecedented scale these days.”

Dell is based in Texas, and more than 50 companies including Atlassian, Zendesk and Asana have signed an open letter warning that Texas’s recent anti-abortion bills will threaten local tech recruitment in the state.

Fellow tech giant Salesforce has also spoken out on the laws, and committed to help its employees relocate if they’re concerned about the ability to seek reproductive care.

Dell has around 13,000 employees in Texas, and is one of the state’s biggest employers.

“We want to provide more health care to our team members in Texas, not less,” Mr Dell said.

“There are some challenges to these various bills that are running around, and I don‘t exactly know how that’s gonna play out, but we’re going to protect our team members and make sure they’re very well taken care of.”