THERE has been no decision made to ban Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from participating in the country’s 5G roll-out, following security fears raised in the US, said Eddin Syazlee Shith.

The deputy communications and multimedia minister said Malaysia has not found evidence of wrongdoing by Huawei, which has been flagged by the US.

On whether Android set-top boxes will be banned, Eddin said the matter is being studied.

“We still have to study it further because it involves the Copyright Act.”

The ministry today launched the Safer Internet Day 2019, in collaboration with CyberSecurity Malaysia. This year’s theme, “Cyber Wellness and Digital Health”, focuses on youth aged between 15 and 30.

Eddin said studies have found that 35% of young adults spend six to seven hours a day on the internet, a trend that he described as worrying.

Ministry Secretary-General Mohd Ali Mohd Nor said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission will decide on the 5G spectrum allocation this year, adding that companies, including Huawei, are welcome to provide the technology.

“It can be Huawei or other companies. It depends on the technology provided by the company. We will work with the relevant companies to promote the technology.”

Previously, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia will not  jump on the bandwagon with other countries to ban Huawei, but instead, will conduct a study of its own to determine whether the company had run afoul of Malaysian law.  – February 13, 2019.