>What makes you think these are "early stages"? AFAIK many telcos already use Huawei 4G equipment, though I can't find actual numbers for that. I'd say Huawei/C

>What makes you think these are "early stages"? AFAIK many telcos already use Huawei 4G equipment, though I can't find actual numbers for that. I'd say Huawei/China is already well positioned to abuse any backdoor access they have. The move to 5G could only expand this. We're at the peak of a massive international debate regarding the role of Huawei in Western communications networks. This is a debate that has already led to bans and restrictions on the deployment of Huawei equipment in 5G networks [0-3]. 5G buildouts are happening right now, and hence the political purchasing decisions (with a multi-decade impact) are happening now. I suspect that's why we're seeing things like TFA. It seems to me that this would be the worst possible time for Huawei to get caught doing something unambiguously malicious. Right now Western networks could remove Huawei if they wanted to, or if politicians ban it. Ten years from now -- assuming Huawei "wins" in most Western nations -- it will be vastly more difficult to replace that equipment. If we imagine a 2035 where Huawei has dominated the US/European 5G market, I suspect that their European competitors will also be much weaker (or will have abandoned the field entirely), meaning that there really isn't much of an alternative. So TL;DR I can't say that there is a good time to get caught spying, but there definitely is a bad time: and it's right now. [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47041341 https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47041341 [1] https://www.telecompaper.com/news/dutch-mps-call-for-more-clarity-on-huawei-role-in-5g-networks--1325742 https://www.telecompaper.com/news/dutch-mps-call-for-more-cl... [2] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-huawei-5g-security-exclusive/exclusive-french-limits-on-huawei-5g-equipment-amount-to-de-facto-ban-by-2028-idUSKCN24N26R https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-huawei-5g-security... [3-N] Just search on "<European country> 5g Huawei debate"