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17th April 2024 Issue no. 701

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BT's Chinese deal prompts security concerns

Despite security concerns, UK telecom giant BT is going ahead with their proposed deal with the Chinese telecom firm ZTE, BT officials have announced. According to BT, they are entering into the deal with ZTE in order to develop new mobile, wireless and fixed-line services.

"We've been very impressed with the knowledge and sophistication of ZTE's team and, by combining our complementary strengths and expertise on a range of research projects, we expect this partnership to be very fruitful for both ourselves and our respective customers," says Clive Selley, BT Innovate chief.

ZTE's chief technology officer, Xie Daxion also expressed his optimism about this new deal by saying that the company is hoping to form a "close and effective research relationship" with BT.

BT has agreed the deal in spite of growing fears expressed by the UK government and by British and US intelligence officials over the security risks involved with allowing Chinese telecom firms to operate in the country, and also follows recent accusations from the US that many cyber attacks appear to come from servers based in China.

Just a few months ago intelligence chiefs warned the UK government about Chinese telecom firms' alleged links with the Chinese government and military, and about their ability to create havoc in case of a deliberate Chinese cyber-invasion. The FBI is now investigating "serious" allegations that hackers in China breached personal e-mail of top US officials.

8th June 2011