What’s up with… Swiss vendor regulations, EU satellite spectrum, SpaceX

• Switzerland plans new high-risk vendor rules 
• EU unveils mobile satellite spectrum licensing plan
• SpaceX bags Space Data Network Backbone deal

In today’s industry news roundup: Switzerland lines up new rules that could lead to a clampdown on the use of Chinese technology; the European Commission unveils how it plans to carve up critical mobile satellite service (MSS) licences next year; SpaceX lands major deal to build a secure satellite comms network for the Pentagon; and much more!

The Swiss government has announced plans to introduce a number of new laws and amendments to telecom legislation that are expected to strengthen security in the sector. The Federal Council said it has launched a consultation to assess further measures it can take to boost the security of telecommunications infrastructure and services. The proposed changes will be enshrined in Switzerland’s Telecommunications Act, and could include forcing operators to diversify their supplier partners to increase network resilience. In its statement, the council also warned that it could ban certain suppliers depending on the geopolitical situation – a move that is similar to that being taken by the European Commission, which is cracking down on the use in European Union member states of technology supplied by “high-risk suppliers” as part of its revised Cybersecurity Act. Switzerland is also seeking feedback on proposals around sharing cable ducts to boost the deployment of full fibre networks, and the introduction of technical system leadership to strengthen the availability of its emergency services call system. The Swiss statement said: “A sufficient legal basis already exists for further security measures. At the ordinance level, it should be enshrined that Swisscom, Salt and Sunrise, as well as the providers of a full mobile virtual network (full MVNO), operate their network operations centres and security operations centres exclusively in Switzerland.” Full details of the consultation and documents can be found here in German, French or Italian.

The European Commission (EC) is to establish a European Union-level procedure for the assignment of mobile satellite service (MSS) spectrum in the 2 GHz band starting in 2027, it has announced. “Spectrum for mobile satellite services is a strategic asset for enabling innovative commercial use, and for security and defence. The 2 GHz MSS band is ideal for direct-to-device (D2D) services, providing critical communication capabilities and ensuring access to high-speed internet in areas without terrestrial coverage,” noted the EC. “Granting an EU-level authorisation for the use of the 2 GHz frequency band for mobile satellite services in all EU member states will ensure regulatory consistency across the EU and allow operators to develop and provide services across borders,” it added. The spectrum will be divided accordingly: One-third of the 2 GHz band is reserved for governmental use (including critical communications, security and military) and will be assigned to an EU operator; and two-thirds will be assigned to commercial services, with a mix of EU new entrants and existing EU and non-EU operators in line to be awarded licences. Henna Virkkunen, the EC’s executive vice president for tech-sovereignty, security and democracy, stated in these prepared remarks that the 2 GHz MSS spectrum allows the provision of satellite and terrestrial connectivity “directly to our mobile devices, ensuring that all areas in the EU, and namely those where terrestrial networks are unavailable, are equipped with voice and internet connectivity. Satellite connectivity is also crucial for our governmental services and Europe’s critical communications. And there is also another important aspect of the EU 2 GHz MSS band: Large networks of low-earth orbit satellites are becoming the space version of cell towers. They connect land and space systems, paving the way for future 6G mobile networks. In short, this band is absolutely vital for our citizens, businesses and governments alike.”

SpaceX, which operates thousands of Starlink low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites for broadband and direct-to-device services, has landed a $2.29bn contract from the US Space Force to build the Space Data Network (SDN) Backbone, a secure, high-capacity, low-latency, LEO satellite communications network that can connect to military sensors and weapons platforms all over the world, reports Reuters. The Space Force expects to announce other satellite network construction and networking technology partners in the coming months. 

A major test of 34 AI models from 10 large developers by Telus Digital, the customer experience solutions developer that is part of Canadian telco Telus, has found that “with the right adversarial techniques, AI models can be coaxed into unsafe behaviour” and that some models “engaged with harmful requests more than 90% of the time”. According to the company, which has published its finding in its GenAI Safety Model Benchmark report, “three factors stood out as the strongest predictors of AI safety natively trained into a model: How it reasons, how large it is, and the approach taken by the team that created the model. Across the 34 models tested, attack vulnerability rates ranged from 1.3% to 93%, where a lower percentage means a safer model…. 10 models scored below 5%, with Anthropic’s Claude models accounting for five of those ten, including the lowest rate in the study.”

Poste Italiane, Italy’s state-owned postal service, expects to complete its €10.8bn takeover of Telecom Italia (TIM) in the third quarter of this year, according to an announcement from the national Italian telco. Poste Italiane, which is already the largest single shareholder in Telecom Italia, unveiled its acquisition plan in March: It is offering Telecom Italia shareholders €0.635 for each share (of which €0.167 would be cash and the rest in newly issued shares). Telecom Italia’s shares are currently trading at €0.72 on the Milan Stock Exchange, 20% higher than when Poste Italiane unveiled its takeover offer. According to a report from Reuters, Poste Italiene has no plans to increase its offer to entice other shareholders to accept it.

UK telco Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) says its O2 Satellite direct-to-device (D2D) service, launched in partnership with Starlink in February, will be available to iPhone users from Thursday 28 May. The service, which costs £3 per month as an additional application for VMO2 mobile customers, is available across 95% of the UK land mass (with just some parts of Scotland not reached by the Starlink low-earth orbit (LEO) fleet). VMO2 declined to share the number of customers that have signed up for the service up to now.   

Veon’s operation in Ukraine, Kyivstar, has acquired six new solar plants in the Kviv region of the country in a deal worth $80.8m as it looks to boost its green credentials and diversify its offering. Together, the six facilities offer a total installed capacity of 105 megawatts (MW): The operator said it will sell on some of the power generated by the plants, which accounted for around $15.3 m of revenue and $13m of EBITDA in 2025, to Ukraine’s unified energy system. “Renewable energy is a key focus area of Kyivstar’s investment portfolio, and this acquisition opens further opportunities for the use of green electricity to meet the company’s energy needs,” said Oleksandr Komarov, president of Kyivstar. It follows a move in December to acquire solar power firm Sunvin 11, the company’s first foray into renewable energy investment.

The Russian Digital Development Ministry has released updated rules for what data telcos operating in the country must store and share with security services. Published in the Ministry’s operational investigative measures system (SORM), the new clampdown means operators must share information that can be used to identify individuals, organisations and associated entities when demanded by Russia’s security services. These include: Passport data, taxpayer identification numbers, banking details, IP addresses, domains, usernames and geolocation coordinates and organisational information. The changes have been under discussion with operators – including Rostelecom, MTS, Beeline, T2 and MegaFon – since early April, according to a report from Russian business daily Kommersant, which was picked up and translated by Meduza News.

– The staff, TelecomTV