GSI fears companies break the rule on purchasing 5G equipment

The sale of 5G equipment to companies that will have to provide the service in the country has become a concern for the GSI (Institutional Security Office). The agency fears that they buy products from a single vendor and that this will lead to vulnerabilities in the network.

Normative instruction from the GSI and resolution from Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency) on the minimum requirements that must be followed in the implementation of the technology determine the subcontracting of different suppliers. The intention is for the same region to have at least two providers that use equipment from different providers.

“Imagine if São Paulo is only in the hands of a supplier and has a vulnerability that it cannot correct in time, to clean up, the entire network would be compromised”, explained Victor Hugo da Silva, general coordinator of Information Security Management at GSI , during a Senate hearing.

​Chinese company Huawei has been negotiating the sale of equipment with practically all operators that should offer 5G in capitals until July 2022.

In addition to saying that the threat of a ban on the Brazilian market was practically removed by the Jair Bolsonaro government, the water crisis helped the world’s largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer to gain an advantage.

The scarcity of water made the price of electricity reach one of the highest levels, which led Huawei to become an important attraction for Claro, Vivo and Tim, the main winners of the fifth generation telephony auction concluded on November 5th .

That’s because, although the price of equipment from the Chinese giant is not so much cheaper than that of competitors Ericsson and Nokia, the cost of maintenance has dropped by 40%.

People participating in the negotiations claim that, only in terms of energy savings, the final cost of the 5G operation will be 30% cheaper with Huawei than with any other supplier.

Another concern shown by the coordinator was the possible increase in hacker attacks after the release of the new fifth-generation networks.

” There will be more points for attacks to enter. The issue of massive machine-machine communication, that is, attacks may be evolving and, if in a deterred, concealed way, it may even have an afterthought of the human being. quick response, while being of benefit to the user, it is to the attacker,” he said.

The 5G auction took place in early November. The largest mobile phone operators in the country, Claro, Vivo and Tim, won the main ranges.

Together, these companies will pay R$6.8 billion in grants to the Federal Government. Licenses in the frequencies of 700 MHz (megahertz) and 2.3 and 3.5 GHz (gigahertz) were purchased.

Of course, Vivo and Tim also got the national lots that carry the commitment to implement connectivity projects in public schools. Tim, Algar Telecom and Fly Link took regional lots that have the same requirement.

The forecast is that the technology will start arriving in Brazil in 2022, first in large cities and then in other municipalities in the country.

Among the benefits promised to users are greater connection speed, both for downloading and sending files via cell phone, as well as faster response time and greater stability.