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Also in today’s EMEA regional roundup: European Council approves space-based connectivity program; WhatsApp promises to be more transparent; might Facebook have to suspend its service in Europe?
Germany may be considering following in the footsteps of the UK government and others by banning certain equipment made by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from their 5G networks, according to a Reuters report citing Zeit Online. What’s more, some components already in place in the networks may have to be ripped out and replaced. An IT security law introduced in 2020 already made it difficult for China-based vendors to participate in the 5G market, though it fell short of bowing to US demands for a complete ban. (See Huawei swap-out starts after Sweden’s 5G auction, Telia Lithuania adds to Huawei’s European pain and Huawei ban in UK is surely just a matter of time.)
The European Council has given its final approval to the EU’s space-based secure connectivity program for 2023-2027, which sets goals for the EU to deploy a home-grown satellite constellation, IRIS. The EU believes that by 2027 IRIS will provide secure communications services based on advanced encryption technologies, including quantum cryptography which, the Council says rashly,
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