The first act of the Conte II government is the activation of the Golden Power for the implementation of the 5G network. Here's what it means
One of the main topics debated in the first Council of Ministers of the Conte II Government concerns 5G technology, the new super-fast network that by 2021 should cover the entire national territory. For the development of the 5G network, Italian operators have signed agreements with foreign companies for the supply of goods and services, especially with Chinese companies. One of the first acts of the Conte II Government concerns the exercise of Golden Power regarding the development of the 5G network.
What does the exercise of Golden Power mean? The government has the ability to exercise special powers in areas that affect national security. The telephone operators will have to respect some prescriptions indicated by the MiSE (Ministry of Economic Development chaired by Stefano Patuanelli) to safeguard the security of the 5G network and the national interest. The fear is that due to vulnerabilities or bugs in the devices used for the realization of the 5G network, Italy will become an easy target for hacker attacks by enemy nations.
5G, what changes with the Golden Power
With the Golden Power implementation, the Government has also provided some telephone operators (Tim, Vodafone, Wind Tre, Fastweb and LINKEM) with prescriptions to follow.
TIM will have to follow the prescriptions of the Government regarding the agreements closed before March 26 for the purchase of equipment and communication systems for the development of 5G. The same will have to do Vodafone: the telephone operator will have to respect the conditions imposed by the Government and revise the agreements signed for the purchase of goods and services for the 5G technology.
The exercise of special powers has also been performed on Wind Tre and concerns the agreements signed by the company with Huawei for the purchase of goods and services for the 5G network. Also Fastweb ended up in the crosshairs of the Government for the commercial agreements signed with the Chinese company ZTE. Finally, the Conte Bis Government has exercised Golden Power on LINKEM with regard to agreements for the purchase of goods and services for the design, implementation, maintenance and management of 5G networks.
In case of failure to notify or not applying the conditions dictated by the government, telephone operators may suffer penalties that reach "up to twice the value of the transaction and in any case not less than one percent of the same value."
Why the Conte II government exercised Golden Power
The activation of special powers over a given area is an act that is used only in special cases where national security may be endangered. And the development of the 5G network falls within the special cases. The biggest danger concerns the security of the state's communication networks: if the technology used has vulnerabilities or flaws, Italy could become easy prey for hackers. Or even worse, the devices used for the realization of the 5G network could hide viruses able to spy on Italy.
5G-Golden Power, what changes for users
What could be the repercussions for Italian users with the activation of Golden Power? Because of the new prescriptions, most probably telephone operators will have to revise the agreements signed for the supply of goods and services with an increase of expenses for the realization of 5G. Expenses that will be passed on to the end user, with an increase in the cost of the 5G subscription. We will see in the coming months how the situation will evolve.