Australia must assess security threats in 5G network: spy chief

FILE PHOTO Journalists follow the presentation of a Huawei smartphone ahead of the IFA Electronics show in Berlin, Germany, September 2, 2015. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo

SYDNEY: Australia must restrict some firms from providing equipment for its 5G mobile communications network because it is such critical infrastructure, the head of the domestic intelligence agency said, helping to explain why China's Huawei was banned.

Australia expanded its national security rules in August to include telecommunication equipment suppliers, an order that prevented Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from participating in the country's forthcoming domestic broadband network.