The Belgian government will impose new restrictions on using “high-risk” 5G equipment makers that are expected to substantially limit the use of Chinese suppliers — as it follows the U.K.’s approach to handling Huawei.
Belgium’s National Security Council decided this week to impose new restrictions, including a full ban on using high-risk vendors in the “core” and “backbone” parts of 5G networks and a cap of 35 percent for such vendors in the “radio access” part of the network, according to notes shared by the government with telecom companies and seen by POLITICO.
The country’s security services will also define geographical areas and “sensitive sites” where the use of these vendors will be restricted, the notes said.
The decision didn’t make specific mentions of Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE. The Belgian government instead said it will follow the European Commission’s “toolbox” on 5G security, which defined “high-risk vendors” as suppliers that could be “subject to interference from a non-EU country” through intelligence legislation, government control or a lack of “democratic checks and balances” in their home country — criteria associated with the two Chinese firms in particular.
The measures mimic those imposed in January by the U.K., which also imposed a cap and bans in parts of the network.
The reliance on Chinese gear has been politically tricky for Belgium, which hosts NATO and the main EU institutions.
The U.K.’s move triggered criticism from the U.S. administration, which has been pushing European countries to impose a full ban on using Huawei’s gear for over a year.
Belgian networks rely almost exclusively on Chinese equipment for their antennas and base stations, informal industry figures shared with POLITICO showed. The state-owned operator Proximus and the local subsidiary of French giant Orange closed major deals with Huawei for their 4G networks and a third operator, Telenet, did so with the smaller Chinese equipment maker ZTE.
The reliance on Chinese gear has been politically tricky for Belgium, which hosts NATO and the main EU institutions.
The U.S. government has warned in past months that it could cut down on intelligence sharing with countries that use Chinese vendors.
“The momentum in favor of secure 5G is building,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Wednesday, adding that “Huawei’s deals with telecommunications operators around the world are evaporating, because countries are only allowing trusted vendors in their 5G networks.”
A spokesperson for Huawei declined to comment on Belgium’s decision.
The National Security Council decided that telecom operators that already procured certain parts for future 5G networks would have to bring their networks in line with the rules within five years. For new 5G procurement, the operators are expected to follow the rules from day one. Belgian operators are expected to move from 4G connections to a full-fledged “standalone” 5G network in the coming years.
The government also tasked the national telecom regulator with drafting texts to modify the country’s telecom legislation to implement the rules in the coming months.