Trade Minister David Parker said New Zealand could be an “honest broker” between the United States and China earlier this month, but the GCSB’s identification of “significant national security risks” in Spark’s Huawei-build 5G network has proved how difficult that will be.

Spark on Wednesday announced the GCSB had declined Spark’s proposal to use Huawei technology in its 5G network. This means Spark cannot build the network unless it takes steps to mitigate the concerns identified by the GCSB.

The GCSB took the unusual decision of releasing its own statement, confirming Spark’s announcement.

Spark’s own decision to release a statement was unusual. Under the Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Act, or TICSA, Spark could still choose to work with the GCSB to mitigate concerns raised, meaning the decline would only take effect if Spark chose not to address concerns raised by the GCSB.

The company said it was considering its options, but the decision to release a statement saying the GCSB had denied the network suggests the concerns identified could be difficult to mitigate.

Should Spark choose to progress, it would initiate a process that could lead to GCSB Minister Andrew Little making the ultimate decision on whether the company is allowed into the 5G network.

But Little told Newsroom the process was "nowhere near that point at this stage".

He said the process was “ongoing”.

“This morning the director-general of the GCSB notified Spark of his . . .   continue to read the full article>