The Communications Minister has signalled he may relax the ban which has kept Chinese telecom Huawei from bringing its low-cost business style to the NBN.

The previous federal government banned Huawei from bidding for contracts in the NBN, over claims of sketchy connections to the Chinese government and the possibility of hardware containing hidden back-doors in security – which could allegedly be used for espionage.

In an interview over the weekend Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would re-evaluate the risks posed by the cut-price provider.

“Even if you accept the premise that Huawei would be an accessory to espionage... you then have to ask yourself, does the equipment that they would propose to sell have that capacity?” Mr Turnbull asked.

Huawei has gone to great lengths to deny the repeated allegations of nefarious links with spy agencies, put forth by the former Labor government. Huawei had been preparing to take up a large scale legal battle against the ban when Mr Turnbull announced it would be up for review.

The Communications Minister said the technologies would be pored over for any evidence of issues.

“Historically, people from a security point of view have been much more concerned about equipment and systems at the centre of the network; that control the network, and less concerned about equipment at the edge of the network,” Mr Turnbull said

“Is the equipment that Huawei is proposing to sell you, or the systems they are proposing to sell, capable of intercepting and diverting traffic signals in a manner that is not detectible?”

There are no solid details about the actual size or timing of the review, but it is expected to bring in the expertise of various government departments.

Mr Turnbull says: “The critical issue is you’ve got to form a judgment about Huawei, but then you’ve also got to form a judgement about the equipment they are selling. There’s both and overall assessment at a corporate level and a technical assessment. I’m saying that we will review the matter in light of evidence [received] in due course.”

“That’s something I will discuss with my colleagues, in particular George Brandis, the Attorney-General, and Julie Bishop, the Foreign Minister.”

Some of the reticence to get Huawei involved in the national broadband infrastructure comes from a report compiled by the US House Intelligence Committee, which claimed Huawei and another large Chinese telecoms company, ZTE, posed sufficient security threats, and that government agencies should not purchase their products.

Huawei is currently involved in similar nation-wide internet upgrades for eight other countries.

Huawei deputy chairperson Ken Hu says: “We have never been asked to provide access to our technology, or provide any data or information on any citizen or organisation to any government or their agencies.”