Telecoms industry sees need to tighten network security, regardless of Huawei

BARCELONA: The telecoms industry is acutely aware of the need to ensure that ever-more complex mobile networks are safe, the head of its main lobby group told Reuters, as debate swirls over whether to bar some equipment vendors on national security grounds.

The GSMA, which groups 300 operators worldwide, has pushed back against U.S. calls on its European allies to bar Huawei Technologies over concerns the firm is too close to the Chinese state and its equipment may be open to cyber spies.

It has instead proposed a stronger Europe-wide testing regime to ensure that, as operators build next-generation 5G networks, smartphones and the billions of connected devices that will be hooked up to the ‘Internet of Things’ are protected from hackers.