Australia's 5G ban not in global interest

The Australian government's recent decision to ban Huawei from supplying 5G mobile network infrastructure equipment for security reasons is about to meet more crosswinds.

But before we go into the verdict, let us accept the fact that technological breakthroughs have introduced humans to an interface which has been socioeconomically transformational. Against this backdrop, the high priority China has attached to high-tech and tech-intensive development has generated a lot of political and economic interests globally. While China has mastered electronics manufacturing and become a formidable producer of information technology hardware, the tenets of global competition and the resulting conflicts have, until now, largely remained confined to politicization.

If we consider the huge benefits of 5G and its total commercial value and success, the matter would boil down to the fact of who can exploit it better, if not best. The Republic of Korea, the United States and Japan are not only the dominant players in 5G technology, but also competing with China to demonstrate their dominance in advanced technologies, with artificial intelligence being one of them.