Ukraine Invasion Brings Help From -- and Worries for --Telcos and ISPs

European telcos and internet companies are acting to help Ukraine after the Russian invasion, they said this week. EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton discussed the need to counter Russian state-sponsored disinformation with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who confirmed the company won't comply with new Russian obligations to stream 20 federal TV stations, according to a European Commission readout of the Tuesday call. The European Telecommunications Network Operators Association said Monday its members "are rolling out measures to ease communications and support people in distress." Measures so far include free international calls to Ukraine; free Wi-Fi in refugee camps; and distribution of SIM cards to refugees arriving in neighboring countries. For the time being, the war isn't likely to have a significant impact on European telcos or ISPs, emailed telecom consultant Innocenzo Genna: COVID-19 has been much more disruptive because of the increased traffic and the disruption of maintenance/repair supply chains. But he told us some European telecom operators may now face uncertainties when dealing with Russian clients such as carriers, banks and corporations: Can they continue to trade with them? Will the payment system supporting contracts continue? Is there an embargo on the horizon? The most important concern now is cyberwarfare, Genna said. Attacks may become more frequent and Russia itself is under attack by Anonymous. Western companies are realizing they may have a digital sovereignty problem with Russian services and products: The most controversial are Telegram (messaging) and Kaspersky (anti-filter). The latter, commonly used by European companies and public bodies, now risks being banned, he said. An ICANN spokesperson confirmed it received a letter from Ukraine asking it to ban Russia from the domain name system. The letter wasn't available on the ICANN website.

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