Portugal Effectively Bans Chinese Companies From 5G Network

Portugal has banned companies from 'high-risk' countries and jurisdictions from supplying equipment for its fifth-generation phone network, becoming the latest western nation to effectively block China's Huawei from its market. From a report: The country will prohibit the use of equipment in its 5G wireless network from suppliers based outside the European Union or from states that don't belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, according to a government statement posted online Thursday.

Re:

[DrMrLordX]

What does any of that have to do with Portugal?

Also ban US companies

[SuperDre]

They should also ban US companies, because from US hardware it is actually proven to have backdoors for US spying services and it has been proven the US is spying on its own allies, with Chinese hardware it is only those US services who claim chinese hardware has backdoors for chinese spying services, bit still no actual proof has been given. What is proven is that Huawei hardware is more secure and harder for US spying agencies to crack, so making it harder for them to spy on us.

Key consideration is not ability but harm

[larryjoe]

That's absolutely correct that there are similar (or even greater) concerns about US capabilities for spying, both in terms of technological knowledge and abilities to implement and carry out spying as well as in terms of governmental willingness and desire to conduct spying operations.

But that's not the reason for the concern in the Western world. The concern is what China might do with that information compared to what the US would do with that information. There is greater fear in the West about the harm that China might cause.

One analogy to consider is how I treat my friendly neighbor compared to a stranger. My neighbor can look into my backyard and in my windows and knows when I come and go. His ability to spy on me and potentially cause me harm is much greater than what a stranger can do. However, I'm not worried about my neighbor. I'm worried about the stranger, not based on capabilities but on relationships and perceived potential harm.

Re:

[HiThere]

I'm not sure that's a valid analogy, though it's certainly got its points. They US has a history of using spying (at least on friends) mainly for the benefit of it's corporations. China is a bit ambiguous, but is often seems to be more interested in power politics. Neither one is really trustworthy, but one is most likely to "only" cause economic harm. (After Facebook and Meta I'm not sure this argument holds any longer. Their goal may be economic, but their method is social destabilization.)

Re:

[test321]

I posted below the contents of the decision. The wording is pretty broad. What we know is criterion 5b) bans companies outside EU, NATO or OECD which includes China, India, Brazil, and more. Other criteria, including those on government control and espionage, might be used at a later point if they issue an ad-hoc decision. (Very unlikely to happen against USA, however.)

Actual contents of the decision (my translation)

[test321]

PRESIDENCY OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
High Council of Cyberspace Security
Commission of Safety Evaluation
Deliberation 1/2023

Object: Objective evaluation criteria of security risks for national networks and services resulting from the use of the 5th generation of telecommunications in Portugal (5G) -- discontinuation of use of equipment

[...]

5. For application of Art. 63 number 3 of the Law of Electronic Communications, it is considered of high risk for safety of national services resulting from the implementa

Elites Consolidate Control of Infrastructure

[BardBollocks]

There, I fixed it for you :)

Salute!

[sajavete]

Good things come from the west.