Mobile networks are losing their charm as walled gardens. As 5G takes hold, mobile operators have much to gain, but they will also lose the tight control they maintained over closed, purpose-built systems of the pre-5G era, Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri wrote in a blog post.

The timing of his post could not be more suspect or seemingly opportunistic following the company’s latest quarterly results, which were marked by a slashed outlook for the remainder of the year and 2020. Nonetheless, geopolitics and security has been a tempting card for vendors to play as the U.S. government and some of its allies wage war against Chinese vendors that are deemed a national security risk.

5G represents a trillion-dollar opportunity for new networks and service, “but only if those networks and services are completely watertight,” Suri wrote. “5G is only worth it if it begins and ends with trust. This is not about political issues or differences between countries.”

While he framed his views around the merits of trust and security, what was left unsaid is which vendors should not be trusted and how many levers the U.S. government is pulling to pressure domestic operators — and those outside of the country — to only work with “trusted vendors” on 5G. In other words, don’t trust or use equipment from industry leader Huawei?

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai addressed this matter and the security concerns that are fueling it last week in an on-stage interview at MWC Los Angeles 2019. “This is not an area where we can afford to take a risk and hope for the best,” he said. “There are larger issues involved here, but from our perspective at least, we want to make sure that we do everything we can to preserve the security of those networks from the domestic perspective.

Pai noted that he was proud “that here in the United States we’re launching 5G with only trusted vendors. Sometimes the conversation abroad and perhaps here in the United States even presents a false dichotomy: you either have to choose security or you have to choose leadership in 5G.” The U.S. carriers’ 5G experience to date, working with incumbent vendors like Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung, proves that is not the case, he argued. “We think we can hit that sweet spot of security as well as deployment.”

Multiple government agencies and the FCC are coordinating on many fronts to cripple Huawei and other China-based vendors. Pai this week announced that the FCC will soon vote on an order to ban carriers from using funds from the Universal Service Fund (USF) to purchase equipment or services from companies that pose a national security threat, including Huawei and ZTE. "The concern is that hostile foreign actors could use hidden 'backdoors' to our networks to spy on us, steal from us, harm us with malware and viruses, or otherwise exploit our networks," Pai explained.

Moreover, because some rural U.S. operators that receive USF funds have already installed Chinese equipment, Pai also proposed a study to determine how much equipment from Huawei and ZTE is active on these networks. And he vowed to initiate a process to remove and replace that equipment. "We'll seek public input on how big this 'rip and replace' program needs to be and how best to finance it," he wrote.

Steven Berry, CEO at the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), which represents rural and regional operators, said "CCA members care deeply about the security of their customers, their networks, and the country." He added that the organization commends Pai's leadership on this issue and looks forward to seeing more details.

That intensifying backdrop puts Nokia, at least on the surface, at a competitive advantage against Huawei, which the U.S. government and allies have repeatedly accused of espionage, security vulnerabilities in its software, sanction violations, intellectual property theft, and a threat to national security. Huawei has rigorously denied all those claims and filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in March to challenge a widening ban on its equipment.

“5G networks are complex,” Suri wrote. “They consist of multiple layers of equipment, processes, and services, from data center processors and cloud management stacks all the way up to operations center software. Each of these layers is (at least in part) ‘open’ — enabling new levels of interoperability between and among different partners or suppliers.”

That diverse foundation requires a more strenuous but also flexible approach to security, he argued. Nokia is striving to foster heightened levels of safety through scalability, sophistication, and speed, Suri explained.

Scalable architecture on that magnitude means operators cannot keep pace with a constant stream of network alarms by traditional means, he wrote. “The answer to this challenge is orchestrated analytics, machine learning, and automation, which can detect and extinguish threats automatically with minimal human input.”

5G operators also open themselves up to risk and new vulnerabilities as network services evolve and software updates become more frequent, Suri explained, adding that Nokia is investing in “digital fingerprints to ensure the integrity of every component of a service from end-to-end.” He argued for security tools to leverage edge computing so risks can be detected and prevented closer to the user and effectively in real time.

The key differentiators of 5G — beyond a faster, more reliable, and more flexible network architecture — are trust and security, Suri concluded. Operators that distinguish their offering by adhering to “comprehensive, belt-and-braces security” will earn opportunities that fall in line with a bolder and more visionary approach, he added.

“I believe that communications service providers who take this route will attract more customers, inspire greater loyalty, and, importantly, represent a far more compelling prospect for businesses that want to digitalize,” he wrote.