Election of American to Head ITU Critical to Secure Communications: Rosenworcel

American Doreen Bogdan-Martin's election as ITU secretary-general was critical to the future of secure communications, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Tuesday in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSIS plans to release a paper Friday on “The Strategic Imperative of U.S. Leadership in Next-Generation Networks: Lessons from Europe’s Stumbles and Implications for the Future of Free-Market Democracies,” which Rosenworcel hailed Tuesday.

Rosenworcel said she will soon circulate for a commissioner vote an NPRM on whether the agency should review Communications Act Section 214 authorizations with an eye on “evolving” security risks. “There is currently nothing in our rules that requires the FCC or national security agencies to generally reassess a foreign carrier’s authorization to provide service,” she said: “This is in stark contrast to most other authorizations granted by the FCC that must be considered on a periodic basis.”

“In the grand scheme of things, this was a little known election at a little-known United Nations agency,” Rosenworcel said (see 2209300001). “You’d be forgiven if you didn’t spend much time thinking about it here at home,” she said. “Doreen’s ascendance to this role really matters,” she said: “At stake, was control of the agency responsible for setting standards for emerging technologies like 5G. This is no small thing because these standards can support democratic values, or suppress them.”

The election of Bogdan-Martin was important but “we’re going to have to now build on this momentum and the truth is it’s going to take a lot of hard work because there is intense competition underway to shape what comes next,” Rosenworcel said. “At the heart of that competition is how next-generation 5G networks are deployed and evolved,” she said.

Rosenworcel said the U.S. and authoritarian nations across the world have very different visions of how to use 5G technology and all the data that will be generated. “The vision that succeeds at a global forum like the ITU matters -- it will inform how networks are deployed and evolve around the world,” she said. By connecting “so much more in our lives” 5G will mean “a broader attack surface” for bad players, she said.

The FCC now “is doing more to address network security than at any point in its history,” Rosenworcel said. “It’s a strategy to deter, defend and develop -- and by that I mean deter bad actors, defend against untrusted vendors and develop a market for trustworthy innovation,” she said. The FCC is working with other federal agencies in the government on a joint approach to security, she said.

Rosenworcel said she acted early on to revitalize that Cybersecurity Forum for Independent and Executive Branch Regulators, which “had all but been abandoned.” The forum's 32 agencies “share a commitment to enhance the security of critical infrastructure,” she said. She said she also worked with the State Department on a more secure process for authorizing submarine cables. Cooperation with industry is important, she said: “Network security is not a subject the public sector can address on its own. Our adversaries are too numerous and they move too fast and the government is simply never going to be effective all by itself.”

Rosenworcel also urged Congress to approve additional funding to remove insecure gear from communications networks. She expressed hope the program will mean more transition to open radio access networks. “In the long run, these systems can help diversify technology in our networks and grow the market for more secure 5G equipment,” she said.

The forthcoming CSIS report stresses the importance of the role the U.S. will play to “help guide and enable free-market democracies by ensuring the 5G platform reaches its full potential to help solve the challenges of the twenty-first century.”

The U.S. “needs to get this right now in order to win the strategic future, because 5G comes with higher stakes compared to previous wireless generations,” the report urges, noting democracies are competing with China, Russia and other authoritarian regimes. “Will the future be one of freedom and innovation or surveillance and control?” the report asked: “Given 5G’s potential to tackle key contemporary challenges, it is imperative that the United States continue to lead on 5G in the competitive global marketplace.”

The report draws contrasts with Europe. “As it deploys 5G, Europe continues to use the same fragmented regulatory and political structure that slowed the mobile ecosystem’s growth and investment in 3G and 4G,” it says: “Europe lost focus on wireless competition, investment, and innovation in favor of a more interventionist regulatory approach and price controls. In the United States today, some well-intentioned stakeholders seek to impose utility-style regulation of broadband at both the state and federal levels in a counterproductive attempt to promote affordable broadband access.”