Japan’s three largest mobile phone carriers – SoftBank, NTT Docomo, and KDDI – announced they will no longer use equipment from Huawei or any other Chinese manufacturers in their 5G network infrastructure, Nikkei Asian Review reports.

The Japanese government recently cited security concerns as the reason for blocking Huawei from public procurement, essentially banning the purchase of Chinese telecoms hardware for public enterprises.

“It’s extremely important to avoid buying equipment that includes malicious functions like stealing or destroying information or halting information systems,” said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

SoftBank will reportedly be the most affected by this Huawei equipment ban, as its 4G infrastructure is built on Huawei telecoms hardware.

These mobile carriers will also be unable to use ZTE equipment.

A number of mobile networks in the United States fear they will also be forced to remove all Huawei network equipment from their infrastructure, petitioning the US Federal Communications Commission for funding and time to replace the hardware if ordered.

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