|
"When 5G networks become mission-critical, networks need to be
secure," Gabriel said in a keynote address at the Mobile World
Congress, the telecoms industry's main annual gathering.
The U.S. administration has lobbied allies to bar Chinese
vendors led by Huawei Technologies on national security grounds,
saying Huawei's closeness to the Chinese government posed a
national security risk and its equipment was open to cyber
espionage. The company denies the accusations.
Sources have told Reuters that the EU executive is considering
proposals that would amount to a de-facto ban on Huawei.
The GSMA lobby group, which represents operators and is hosting
the Mobile World Congress, has proposed a Europe-wide testing
regime to strengthen network security. Leading members oppose a
ban that they say could delay 5G by years.
"Let me reassure you that the Commission takes your concerns
seriously," Gabriel told telecoms executives. "Nobody is helped
by premature decisions based on partial analysis of the facts."
She added, however, that the 28-member EU should take a decision
soon to avoid the risk of individual countries going it alone,
potentially leading to a fragmentation of the bloc's common
market.
"We all know that this fragmentation damages the digital single
market," said Gabriel, adding that the Commission would "take
steps soon" on the issue.
(Reporting by Douglas Busvine; editing by Jason Neely)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
