Page 130 - SAMENA Trends - April-May 2021

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

EU Tipped to Court India in 5G Security Standards Effort

European Commission (EC) EVP Margrethe Vestager (pictured) summit between the bloc and Indian Prime Minister Narendra
reportedly unveiled intentions to collaborate with India on Modi on 8 May, as part of broader discourse on security and trade
creating global standards for security and transparency in 5G issues. The Commissioner reportedly highlighted the EU’s desire
rollouts. Vestager told Bloomberg the European Union (EU) to collaborate with democratic partners on establishing open
planned to put the 5G deployment topic on the agenda at a standards for 5G rollouts and protect networks in the light of “a
systematic rivalry”, supposedly hinting at heightened concerns
around Chinese vendors. Standards would be built around
technical specifications including 5G network spectrum bands
and interface technologies in an effort to open opportunities for
local and small companies to participate, Vestager told the news
agency. She said standardization would play a key role for speedy
digitalization. Alongside the US and India, a number of EU nations
moved to impose restrictions on the use of equipment made by
companies including Huawei and ZTE when building 5G networks
over worries of ties with China’s government. The EU reportedly
needs to pour $355 billion into deploying next-generation
networks, and India is thought to require $70 billion.

PTA Launches CERT Portal for Telecom Industry

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority incidents, vulnerabilities, security news improvements in portal will be carried out
(PTA) has launched Computer Emergency and other related information. Continual based on operational requirements.
Readiness Team (CERT) / Coordination
Center Portal (https://sec.pta.gov.pk)
for the Pakistan Telecom Sector. PTA
has introduced the CERT portal for its
licensees, in continuation to its efforts
to improve security posture of Pakistan
Telecom Sector and to protect and
safeguard National Critical Telecom Data
and Infrastructure. This initiative will
enable PTA and its licensees to share
Threat Intelligence with each other to
achieve regulatory compliance of PTA
Cyber Security regulations. This portal has
been established after close coordination
and input from the telecom operators.
Primarily, this portal will facilitate
information sharing and exchange
between PTA and telecom service
providers on latest cyber security threats,

130 APRIL-MAY 2021