WASHINGTON—The majority of the equipment at the heart of 5G networks come from just a small number of global suppliers, with the largest being Chinese company Huawei. Ajit Pai, chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said this was a “major concern” for the United States that could open the door to surveillance, espionage, and other dangers.
U.S. officials have long conveyed concerns of national security threats posed by certain foreign communications equipment providers, and of hidden “backdoors” to networks in routers or other equipment that could allow foreign powers to inject malware or steal private U.S. data, Pai said on Nov. 5 at the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit think tank.
