Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is not ruling out involvement by Chinese telco giant Huawei in New Zealand's 5G network, amid concern that our relationship with China could be under strain.

The Government Communications and Security Bureau (GCSB) has found a "significant network security risk" in Spark's proposal to use Huawei equipment for its New Zealand 5G network, but Ardern said no final decision had been made....

Huawei "never were not" in the running, she said. "There was a very quick interpretation of what had happened... The legislation sets out a process. The GCSB have raised concerns, that is in the public domain, they have gone back to Spark with those concerns. Now the ball is in Spark's court."

Could Huawei threaten the Five Eyes alliance?

Public services and safety will be carefully managed though data, while devices in our homes will talk to each other and the wider world as part of the "internet-of-things".

Many of these services will be delivered over what is called 5G. It will be much more than just faster data on our phones, but potentially transformational for our lives - if you believe the hype.

But there is a darker fear as well. What if it is also transformational for our security if we end up reliant on a Chinese company to deliver this future?

That question risks causing a major divide in the Five Eyes - the intelligence alliance between the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.