Huawei has reaffirmed its sponsorship deal with the Canberra Raiders will not be impacted should the federal government refuse to overturn a ban on the Chinese company tendering for work on the National Broadband Network.
Reports suggested on Tuesday the Coalition had decided to keep the ban in place, initiated by the Labor government early last year on advice from security agencies.
But Huawei Australia spokesman Jeremy Mitchell said a decision had yet to be made, and its relationship with the Raiders will not be affected regardless of the outcome.
''Huawei understands no decisions have been made by the government regarding the NBN, pending outcomes of the strategic review,'' he said.
Huawei signed a two-year, $1.7 million deal to be the NRL club's major sponsor early last year.
It has since extended the partnership until the end of next year, with an option for 2015.
''The Raiders are nothing to do with the NBN,'' Mitchell said.
''We signed up to the Raiders without an NBN contract, and we re-signed with the Raiders without an NBN contract.
''Our commitment to them is about our total operation here in Australia.''
The technology giant remains hopeful an NRL match between Canberra and Manly will be held in China in late April or early May next season.
''We're extremely happy with the partnership, that's why we're very much pushing for a game in China,'' Mitchell said.
''It's got great exposure globally, and is seen as a great success story.
''It's been a successful entry in the sports sponsorship arena.''
The ban will be assessed as part of a 60-day review into the NBN, which is scheduled for completion next month.
Attorney-General George Brandis told The Australian Financial Review on Tuesday a decision was yet to be made regarding the ban.
"The decision of the previous government not to permit Huawei to tender for the NBN was made on advice from the national security agencies," he said. "That decision was supported by the then opposition after we received our own briefings from those agencies.
"Since the election the new government has had further briefings from the national security agencies. No decision has been made by the new government to change the existing policy."
Huawei has reaffirmed its sponsorship deal with the Canberra Raiders will not be impacted should the federal government refuse to overturn a ban on the Chinese company tendering for work on the National Broadband Network.
No comments:
Post a Comment