Montreal (AFP)
Telecom services giant Bell Canada announced Tuesday that it has chosen to equip itself with the Swedish group Ericsson for the deployment of its 5G mobile network, as has its smaller rival Telus, which has also retained the Finnish Nokia.
The Canadian government has been examining for almost two years whether or not to allow Chinese equipment maker Huawei to participate in the construction of 5G networks in Canada, the next generation of ultra-fast mobile internet, but a decision is pending.
Bell Canada and Telus largely used Huawei equipment in their fourth generation mobile networks. Bell's main competitor, Rogers, had already turned to Ericsson for the deployment of its 5G network.
"Ericsson will supply the Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment for Bell's national 5G wireless network, including the unique wireless residential Internet service that Bell has developed to provide high-speed Internet access to rural Canada, "said the Canadian telecoms giant in a statement.
The announcements come less than a week after Canadian justice officials struck Chinese giant Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou as saying they will continue the process of extradition to the United States.
Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the world's number 5G equipment company, is accused by the United States of having circumvented American sanctions against Iran.
She was arrested at the Vancouver airport in late 2018, the start of an unprecedented diplomatic crisis between China and Canada.
© 2020 AFP