France to seek tougher oversight of 5G network gear

PARIS, Jan 23 (AFP): France will require telecommunications companies to allow more government oversight and control of the equipment required for next-generation 5G wireless networks due to security concerns, a government official said Tuesday.

The move comes as several Western nations have barred China's Huawei from participating in contracts for 5G deployment, citing fears Beijing could gain access to sensitive communications and critical infrastructure.

Guillaume Poupard, head of France's national cybersecurity agency ANSSI, said a new law could be enacted soon to "toughen and extend" authorisation requirements "to be sure we control the entire 5G network".

But he said approvals would not be refused "because of a company's image, or its country of origin".

"There aren't good equipment makers on the one hand and bad equipment makers on the other - unfortunately the situation is much more complex," Poupard told the news agency on the sidelines of the International Cybersecurity Forum in Lille, northern France.

The need for oversight is all the more critical since the base stations and other infrastructure for ultrafast 5G networks are much less centralised than current 4G systems, he said.