The much anticipated guidelines for its member countries on including the so called high-risk vendors like Huawei in the process of construction of 5G mobile connectivity networks have been issued by the European Union.
Under the new set of guidelines, the EU has developed a “toolbox” of security measures for this purpose even though it has largely left the decision making of the ultimate control over which equipment they allow in their 5G infrastructure to the individual member states. Reports said that the new “toolbox” of security measures will hopefully help its member states to coordinate their approaches in the process of decision making and hiring of vendors for 5G roll out.
The Chinese tech giant and the largest manufacturer of telecom equipment in the world Huawei has been the source of most concern internationally, even though the company was not directly named in the Commission’s guidelines. The United States has already banned the company form doing any business in the country and with American companies and has been pressurizing its traditional allies in Europe and elsewhere to do the same with the company. The US has alleged that the telecom equipment supplied by the Chinese company has loopholes that can be used by Chinese security agencies to spy on western countries thereby threatening their national security.
One of the countries being recently put under pressure by the US over the issue was the United Kingdom which however decided to not pay heed to the US cautions and to allow Huawei to participate in its 5G mobile network roll out but with certain restrictions.
According to reports, a number of elements of the UK’s policy regarding Huawei and other so called questionable Chinese vendors have been reflected in the guidelines set by the EU.
For example, the EU guidelines have suggested member countries to conduct a detailed assessment of the risks posed by various telecom equipment vendors and suppliers such as with respect to including them in the core of the network which are considered to be the most vulnerable. The EU guidelines also noted that it is important to maintain a variety among the vendors. This has been attempted to be achieved by the UK by putting a cap on the amount of equipment from the so called high-risk vendors that can be used to about 35 per cent of the total network requirement.
The decisions by both the UK and the EU defy the pressure and lobbying from the US. The recent decision of the UK to allow the use of Huawei equipment for its 5G network was described as “disappointing” by a senior Trump administration official yesterday in a n interview with to the Financial Times.
On the other hand, the guideline of the EU was welcomed by Huawei and said that is guideline allowed for a “non-biased and fact-based approach towards 5G security.”
(Source:www.theverge.com)
Under the new set of guidelines, the EU has developed a “toolbox” of security measures for this purpose even though it has largely left the decision making of the ultimate control over which equipment they allow in their 5G infrastructure to the individual member states. Reports said that the new “toolbox” of security measures will hopefully help its member states to coordinate their approaches in the process of decision making and hiring of vendors for 5G roll out.
The Chinese tech giant and the largest manufacturer of telecom equipment in the world Huawei has been the source of most concern internationally, even though the company was not directly named in the Commission’s guidelines. The United States has already banned the company form doing any business in the country and with American companies and has been pressurizing its traditional allies in Europe and elsewhere to do the same with the company. The US has alleged that the telecom equipment supplied by the Chinese company has loopholes that can be used by Chinese security agencies to spy on western countries thereby threatening their national security.
One of the countries being recently put under pressure by the US over the issue was the United Kingdom which however decided to not pay heed to the US cautions and to allow Huawei to participate in its 5G mobile network roll out but with certain restrictions.
According to reports, a number of elements of the UK’s policy regarding Huawei and other so called questionable Chinese vendors have been reflected in the guidelines set by the EU.
For example, the EU guidelines have suggested member countries to conduct a detailed assessment of the risks posed by various telecom equipment vendors and suppliers such as with respect to including them in the core of the network which are considered to be the most vulnerable. The EU guidelines also noted that it is important to maintain a variety among the vendors. This has been attempted to be achieved by the UK by putting a cap on the amount of equipment from the so called high-risk vendors that can be used to about 35 per cent of the total network requirement.
The decisions by both the UK and the EU defy the pressure and lobbying from the US. The recent decision of the UK to allow the use of Huawei equipment for its 5G network was described as “disappointing” by a senior Trump administration official yesterday in a n interview with to the Financial Times.
On the other hand, the guideline of the EU was welcomed by Huawei and said that is guideline allowed for a “non-biased and fact-based approach towards 5G security.”
(Source:www.theverge.com)
