“Unreliable manufacturers and suppliers will not be able to take part in electronic communications activity in Lithuania, especially in deploying 5G infrastructure. Such manufacturers will be gradually removed from electronic communication networks and electronic communications services in Lithuania,” Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas underscored at a press conference at the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, April 12. The press conference was held to address the package of law on measures to ensure that only reliable manufacturers could take part in the 5G network development in Lithuania.
The new laws are aimed at ensuring that dedication and usage of radio frequencies is aligned with national security interests. They are also shaped to decrease technological dependence from third parties, countries outside of the EU, NATO, EFTA and (or) OECD, and cut national security risks related to them.
The proposed law would put into force a provision that manufacturers and (or) suppliers, as well as suppliers of maintenance and (or) sustainment services who do not align with national security interests were to be replaced until 31 December 2025 The timeline was set according to an already established practice in European Union countries. For example, timelines of other EU countries: Kingdom of Sweden – until 1 January 2025, Kingdom of Belgium – 1 July 2025, Poland – within five years after finding incongruity, Estonia – until 1 January 2024, United Kingdom – until 30 September 2021.
The European Commission laid out recommendations for 5G network deployment in 2019 in order to ensure that the resulting 5G network is secure. Advised by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, (ENISA), the European Commission presented to member states the 5G technology risk assessment and recommendations on managing the risks arising from 5G networks in 2020. The General Data Protection Regulation in force in the European Union also helps ensuring implementation and protection of personal data protection rights.
5G is the fifth generation mobile communications standard defined in 2016 by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The 3GPP unites radio communications development associations, telecommunications standard development institutes and technology committees from Europe, Japan, China, India, South Korea, and the Unite States of America. The 5G standard includes new or upgraded earlier security solutions: a new IMSI encryption mechanism was introduced to ensure user data confidentiality, session encryption is done using SNOW3G (128-NEA1), AES-128 CTR (128-NEA2) and ZUC (128-NEA3) algorithms proven in other cellular communication technologies.
