Page 111 - SAMENA Trends - October 2019

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Germany to Maintain Level Field for 5G Vendors

Germany was tipped to be on the brink of allowing Huawei to supply clause that would exclude any one company,” said the government
equipment for 5G networks in the country, ignoring calls from official. The nation’s decision does not come as a huge surprise.
the US to ban the under-fire Chinese vendor, Reuters reported. A Despite pressure from Washington to ban the Chinese company,
senior government source told the publication the country is set to both Germany and the UK have indicated Huawei would play some
publish a “security catalogue” this week, which had been finalized part in the rollout of 5G. Last week, the European Commission
by the national network regulator and Cybersecurity watchdog. also declined to single Huawei out following a risk assessment
The rulebook will outline Germany’s intentions to maintain a of 5G networks, although it did warn against state-backed threats
level playing field for vendors in building 5G networks, imposing to the technology, along with a heightened risk associated with
no bans and thus allowing Huawei to work with operators in the infrastructure deals involving single suppliers. Europe’s approach
country. “Germany’s approach did not, and does not, foresee any contrasts greatly from the US, which imposed export sanctions
on Huawei in May, resulting in severe ramifications on its network
and smartphone business. Reuters said Germany’s network
operators have opposed calls to ban the company, which the
US alleges uses backdoors in its equipment for spying. Huawei
is considered to be a leading vendor in 5G equipment and there
were fears among domestic operators, which all work with the
company, that a ban could delay the rollout of the technology by
years and add billions to deployment costs. The security rulebook
will, however, require Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone Germany and
Telefonica Deutschland to identify and apply enhanced security
standards to critical network elements, Handelsblatt reported. It
will also require vendors to agree to pay damages to customers if
proof is found that equipment has been used for spying.

Appeals Court Backs FCC Net Neutrality Position; Allows States to Introduce

Own Rules

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a mixed ruling on Net
Neutrality, allowing the December 2017 repeal by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to stand, but dismissing
a provision blocking states from implementing their own open
internet rules. Following the appeal – which had been argued by
internet firm Mozilla Corporation on 1 February 2019 – the three-
judge panel said that they had found the challengers’ arguments
to be largely unpersuasive. However, the judges delivered a
blow to the FCC by ruling it had exceeded its legal authority by
seeking to block states from passing their own Net Neutrality
rules, as many did in a backlash to the FCC’s repeal. According to
TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, the FCC plan to repeal
Net Neutrality rules was approved in December 2017, following
a 3-2 vote – split along Republican-Democrat party lines. As
such, the FCC’s ‘Restoring Internet Freedom Order’ took effect on
11 June 2018, scrapping the Title II rules and reverting internet
services to their Title I ‘information service’ status. The June 2018
order removed mandates which previously prevented ISPs from
blocking, throttling or otherwise prioritizing online content.

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