Opposition MP Faiyaz Koya has welcomed the rollout of Fiji’s 5G network.
However, he warned that serious concerns around security, regulation, and energy consumption should be addressed as the country pushes forward with its National Strategy for 5G Spectrum Assignment and Commercial Deployment.
Responding to Communications Minister Manoa Kamikamica’s ministerial statment, Mr Koya acknowledged the initiative’s benefits, while raising red flags about the technology’s vulnerabilities.
He said 5G technology remained relatively new in the local context and that “there are issues that still exist because it’s still fairly new, it’s been four or five years ago that’s been put there in the market.”
“There are issues with 5G which I hope is being addressed in the framework and will continue to be addressed, these are the security framework that will exist with respect to the actual rollout,” Mr Koya said.
“Whilst we all welcome and acknowledge the fact that we will get faster internet speed, in a lot of the areas around Fiji, which bands are we actually using, is there global harmonisation? And will there be global compatibility?”
“Of course, a very positive aspect of the outsourcing industry and other parts of the economy and the Ministry of Health that will be involved in all these, it’s also commendable.”
However, he said expressed caution with respect to the energy consumption that comes as part of this program and the security concerns that exist about the harvesting of information and hackers that exist, warning that “this particular technology can be disruptive”.
“It’s actually something that needs to be looked at carefully, and should we also be looking at ensuring that we put up another serious regulatory body because I’m sure the policing of all this is not just for the ministry to do.”He revealed that earlier discussions had considered involving the police in cyber threat monitoring.
“I knew there were discussion at the committee stage also whether the police should be involved in it because this can allow hackers to get into our system quickly,” he added.
“And because this operates at break-net speed, it will be a dangerous activity that we are entering into.
“End to end encryption is not going to be there in terms of the previous capacities we have, these are issues and that puts us at exposure to hackers, malware and potential breachers, and the speed of this software is actually quite phenomenal.”
He also pointed out that significant infrastructure investment would be required and that while the cost is high, the payoff could help position Fiji as a tech destination.
“The infrastructure, with respect to the minister’s statement, telling us how the infrastructure will have to cope, there will be a significant investment… the cost factor alone, it’s actually great because it opens up another area for Fiji, also an area where it’s good if we are to entice more people to come to Fiji to start app development,” he said.
“When we’re handing out these licences, is it going to be an auction? Because this is another revenue stream for Fiji.
“There are many countries when engaging they actually go into an auction process, which means a considerable amount of revenue for the country.”
“There are also several areas in the ICT space that may cause some concern, I hope we are looking at independent measures, and we are actually checking out people who will bid for all this, because it is a place where information can be harvested.”
