The Draghi government continues to closely monitor 5G security. A dpcm of Palazzo Chigi on 30 June last gave the green light with prescriptions for a contract between Fastweb and Huawei. The exercise of the golden power concerns “the purchase of an update (software release) and related professional services purchased from Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., in order to make the software release of the billing system (on-line charging OCS) compatible with 5G Stand Alone services ”, reads the decree.
A substantial green light with some conditions to ensure that data protection is guaranteed in compliance with Italian and EU legislation. In the last year, the Italian government has intervened several times by exercising “special powers” on contracts between Italian operators and non-European suppliers: 18 times in 2020, according to the latest annual report by Italian intelligence. As in this case, it was almost always a question of “prescriptions”, or security measures, such as the access of the technicians of Palazzo Chigi to the source code, to prevent the data from ending up in the wrong hands. Only once, precisely for a 5G contract between Fastweb and Huawei, the government vetoed.
The resilience of the 5G network remains a priority on the transatlantic agenda. In full continuity with its predecessors, the American administration of Joe Biden and US intelligence consider Chinese companies such as Huawei and Zte, deeply rooted in the Italian telco market, suppliers “at risk” for national security due to their suspected proximity to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The dossier was partly addressed in the recent visit to Rome by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken . According to Formiche.net, Blinken congratulated the progress made by the Italian government on the cybersecurity front and for a realignment of the Italian position on the 5G network.
The State Department has already given a positive opinion on the Cyber National Security Perimeter, the network of cyber equipment control centers introduced by the Conte-bis government and now being completed. More recently, he expressed his satisfaction with the new National Cybersecurity Agency (Acn) inaugurated with Legislative Decree 80/2021, now being examined by the chambers. “A veto to ban Chinese companies from the network would be ideal, but we appreciate the progress made,” explains a source on condition of anonymity. Even those registered in the private sector: Tim’s decision to exclude Huawei from upcoming 5G bids was welcomed in Washington DC.
The US government’s approach to Italy remains firm but pragmatic. Rome is not the only one to deal with a massive presence of Chinese suppliers in the national market. Almost all European countries, including allies such as France and Germany, have milder measures than Italy to shield the national 5G network from Beijing’s sights. An observation that on the one hand pushes to accept compromise solutions, on the other has already sparked a debate in Washington.
For four years with Donald Trumpthe United States has asked its European allies to put companies like Huawei and Zte out the door, but without indicating an alternative way. The reason is simple: an alternative made in the USA, still today, does not exist. It is a big problem for countries with a fragile or developing economy that are suffering not a little from the sirens of Beijing, from Africa to Central and Eastern Europe. For this reason, the US government and Congress are studying a series of “incentives” to make Chinese offers less attractive.
At work on the counter-offensive there is a branch of the Commerce Department, the Wall Street Journal revealed in June, committed to drafting a “manual” for European allies to explain the risks of the partnership with Chinese suppliers and indicate the ” best practice “to follow. Among these is the United Kingdom ofBoris Johnson , who a year ago decided to ban Huawei and ZTE from the “core” 5G network starting in 2027.
Meanwhile, a large bipartisan group in Congress is fighting to pass a new law presented by Democratic MP Marcy Kaptur which would unlock federal funds, hitherto destined for developing countries in Asia and Africa, also for the allies of Central and Eastern Europe. These are low-interest loans and public investments that have already been tested in the energy market.
Italy, a G7 country with one of the highest per capita GDP in Europe, would obviously not be included in the program. It has another priority, publicly underlined by Blinken during his Roman visit: to ensure that other funds, European ones for recovery, do not end up increasing the economic and strategic resilience of actors outside the Atlantic Alliance.
The Belpaese is on the pitch for another match on the 5G network. O-Ran (Open radio access network), the project of a modular TLC market, open to the possibility of using different devices for the various functional blocks capable of interoperating with each other through a set of open standard interfaces and protocols. In a nutshell, the exact opposite of the “proprietary”, closed and vertical market that guarantees Huawei and Zte a quasi-monopoly in the 5G and telecommunications sector in general. The US government has already given a formal endorsement to the project which also speaks a little Italian. Tim also joined the O-Ran coalition, which brings together the main international companies in the sector, with the signing of a memorandum by CEO Luigi Gubitosi .
