It was a week rife with worries about network security, cyberwarfare, corruption and cancer risks – to say nothing of Nokia’s slumping share price.
India’s government unveiled a slew of telco security measuresthis week that operators must adhere to, or risk facing penalties.
Measures include appointing only Indian nationals for network maintenance and nationwide location-based services capability within three years. Security breaches may be punished with a 500 million rupee ($11.1 million) fine, and even criminal charges.
The new measures were revealed against the broader backdrop of reports that Lockheed Martin and the US Department of Homeland Securityhad come under a cyber attack by (so far) unknown sources, while separately, China acknowledged the existence of a cyber security squad, described as an Online Blue Army, to defend state systems from online attack.
Meanwhile, reports emerged during the week that China is coming down hard on alleged corruptionat China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has sent teams of investigators to all three operators.
People's Dailysuggests that the investigation may focus on graft in China's booming new value-added services segment. And according to AFP, 60 people including government officials and telecom employees are said to have been targeted in the probe.
Worries over mobile phone radiation resurfaced this week thanks to the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)”, based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer.
Related content
- Webwire: India mobile base tops 850m; Softbank green power venture
- Webwire: China accused of economic espionage; NEC may build gear in India LG plans smart TV SDK; Yahoo
- THE WRAP: Apple settles Nokia suits; Telia teams with Telenor
- Webwire: Yahoo may exit Softbank JV; Nokia plans Vietnam plant
- Webwire: India can't reopen Vodafone tax case; France leans on Google