Tokyo, May 28, 2020—Siding with the United States, Australia and the UK, Japan would deny Chinese telecom companies selling 5G telecom equipment and systems to Tokyo’s 5G program, the Yomiuri newspaper, one of Japanese national dailies, reported May 27. While the ban is aimed at preempting potential Chinese cyber attacks on the Japanese system now being constructed, it could have a toxic impact on one of the three main telecom carriers that and could slow the country’s 5G development.
The newspaper said the Japanese government had compiled new guidelines on telecom equipment procurement and that Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, said at a news conference (the date, time and other details could not be identified) that equipment and systems to be mobilized in Japan should be free of malicious apps and functions. The daily identified Huawei and ZTE as subject to the guidelines.
The Trump administration, the Australian government and the UK, are poised to ban Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers from government procurement. This week, a Canada court ruled that Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, under house arrest in Canada since 2018, that her case meets the threshold of double criminality and that she had committed crimes both in the United States and Canada. The United States claims that Meng violated U.S. sanctions against Iran.
If the Japanese guidelines are to be enforced on the two Chinese companies, then Japan’s 5G plan could slow significantly. In the mobile telecom market, NTT DoCoMo, a former telecom monopoly, commands a 43.2 percent market share, and KDDI/au, a Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate, 31.4 percent. The smallest of the three main carriers, Softbank 25.4 percent. Softbank and KDDI/au have a joint undertaking called 5G Japan Corp. to jointly build and share %G antennas.
Japan began offering 5G services in early 2020. DoCoMo offers 5G smart phones and South Korea’s Samsung and LG, Japan’s Sharp., Sony, but also China’s OPPO. KDDI/au sells the same smart phone makers’ models as well as ZTE’s. Softbank also sells the same makers and industry officials have said they expect Hauwei 5G phones to hit store shelves soon. China is penetrating into Japan with smart phones as well as its 5G technology, urging Japanese parts makers and telecoms to adopt its technology.
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