“Perhaps, the most puzzling part of the Belgian Intelligence Services report is what it does not mention. Although most countries are extremely concerned about China investments in their Telecom infrastructure, the Belgian report is silent on this issue. Why on earth?”

Intel Today – December 3 2018

 

January 29 2019 — During the Summer 2018, the Belgian federal government announced that the auction for the 5G frequency bands would take place in 2019. Suddenly, this auction is delayed to 2020, and perhaps later. Obviously, the deadline set by the EU for the distribution of 700 MHz frequencies (also known as the ‘Golden frequency band’), set for mid-2020, could be jeopardized. What is going on? Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

RELATED POST: 5G — Belgian Politicians Welcome Chinese Spies… And Trash Environmental Laws

RELATED POST: Havana Syndrome — What Are the Frequencies Used by US Intel for Microwave Spying?

RELATED POST: 5G — Will European Countries Ban Huawei? [UPDATE — Canada Former Spy Chief : “Ignore the threats and ban Huawei”]

UPDATE (November 20 2020) — According to an interview with federal minister Petra De Sutte, the 5G spectrum auction will not take place in Belgium before at least 12 months.

“I will not be the minister that held back 5G and its potential for the economy. I am ready to engage with the Brussels regional government on adapting its strict emissions caps to allow 5G services in the capital,” Petra De Sutte said.

I am afraid that this person has no idea whatsoever what the issues really are… And to her defense, she is not alone sitting in the darkness of this dossier.

Last week, Gilles de Kerchove — European coordinator for counter-terrorism — equated those who opposed 5G to members of ISIS and al-Qaeda. 

The statement was reposted by many, including the legendary former FBI agent Ali Soufan.

Speaking about 5G, Gilles de Kerchove stated  that the rise of “techno-terrorism” is caused by disinformation, ignorance, and fear of new technologies.

Why on earth would Gilles de Kerchove — a rather intelligent person — make such preposterous accusation against groups — peacefully — opposed to 5-G?

NB — In Belgium, highly educated people are among the staunchest opponents of the 5G networks. Moreover, these groups are non-violent. A single GSM antenna was set on fired during the first lockdown. 

RELATED POST: My Time to Fight — Going Full Che Against 5G

Let me give you a clue. In Brussels, very serious crimes have been committed in the telecom dossier over the last ten years, including at a time when the responsible minister was a close friend of Gilles de Kerchove.

I believe that this affair is the worst state scandal in the recent history of Belgium. Not a small feat… Stay tuned!

PS — Petra De Sutte also stated that the Belgian State must remain in control of Proximus (Telecom) and Bpost (Post office). The former CEO of Proximus was investigated for a serious crime until she recently agreed to pay a fine to avoid a trial. The current CEO of Bpost is currently investigated by the FBI. 

RELATED POST: 5G Belgium — The Unfathomable Hypocrisy of the Belgian Green Party [UPDATE]

RELATED POST: Belgium — Bpost CEO Investigated by FBI

The regular readers will notice that 5G is the only Belgian dossier I am following and that Proximus and Bpost are the only Belgian companies I have mentioned so far in this blog. Be patient… Winter is coming!

PS 2 — Early this year, I wrote that the Belgian Government should sell all its 53% shares of Proximus before these are worth no more than toilet paper. Shares of Proximus are already down 35%. The clock is ticking…  Here is a safe prediction. When the thing hits the fan, it is going to be a very bad time for all those involved in this mess.

END of UPDATE

In a story posted on December 3 2018 (Belgium — Chinese Espionage Is Clear and Present Danger), I told you that I was flummoxed by the silence of the last Belgian Intelligence agency report. Here is what I wrote:

“Perhaps, the most puzzling part of the report is what it does not mention.

Although most countries are extremely concerned about China investments in their Telecom infrastructure, the Belgian report is silent on this issue.

Why, on earth, why?”

On December 7 2018, two Belgian Newspapers (L’Echo and De Tijd ) revealed that the Belgium Centre for Cyber-security (CCB) was considering the possibility of banning Huawei from Belgium.

The CCB has requested, through both national and international channels, objective studies showing that the use of Huawei technology carries risks, before being able to send out detailed advice.

I understand that the CCB has now recommended to ban Huawei from the Belgian 5G infrastructure.

On January 9 2019, I told you that Proximus — who has long been planning to deploy a 5G network in partnership with Huawei — has forced the Brussels government to trash a basic environmental law limiting the power of the telecom antennas.

“The Minister of Environment is rushing a new law (ahead of the next general elections scheduled for May 26 2019) that will allow telecoms operators to emit  about 10 times more radiation.

Guess what? It only gets better…

Like most European countries, the Belgian government had announced that the 5G auction would take place during in the spring 2019.

The full text of its proposal to auction 20-year  licences for frequencies in the 700 MHz, 1400 MHz and 3600 MHz bands has been published.

Moreover, the auction will also cover the renewals of existing spectrum licences for 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands which run out in March 2021.

The government expects to raise at the very least €680 million from this auction.

And suddenly… Michel Van Bellinghen — President of the Council for the Belgian Telecommunications Regulator, also known as the IBPT —  told Belgian media that:

“The prospect of being able to reasonably organize these current 2019 bids in the right conditions is becoming ever increasingly remote.”

Better! Out of the blue, Philippe De Backer — the Belgian Minister for Telecommunications — announced that this auction is delayed to 2020, and perhaps later.

Why on earth, why?

As always, there is no lack of explanations..

“The delay has been caused by the failure of the Regional Government Consultative Committee not being able to reach consensus on how the proceeds from the auction should be allocated.”  [Telecom Minister Philippe De Backer]

But Belgian financial newspaper L’Echo has another explanation. The Brussels environmental law seems to be the issue…

While others argue that Proximus is fighting the Belgian government willingness to open the market to a fourth Telecoms operator…

Analysis

Here is my take on this issue. I wish to emphasize that I have not insider information. It is not even RUMINT or GOSINT, just pure ‘guesstimate’ on my part… Hear me on.

As I told you, we KNOW that the Brussels Minister of Environment has announced that she was rushing a new law (ahead of the next general elections scheduled for May 26 2019) that will allow telecoms operators to emit  about 10 times more radiation.

“This decision is not just puzzling — considering the recent findings clearly linking GSM to cancer — but also illegal as this new law clearly is idiotic and violates an article of the Constitution.

Such decision is almost certainly politically suicidal. What is going on?”

I have already explained that the Belgian Federal and Regional governments have long provided Proximus — the leading Belgium Telecoms operator — with an advantage over their competitors.

This is not very difficult to understand. The Proximus Group is primarily state-owned, with the Belgian state holding 53.3%.  The group’s main current competitors are Telenet and Orange Belgium.

But now, the Federal Government would like to use the opportunity of the 5G frequency auction — as well as the renewal of all existing 2G, 3G and 4G bands — to introduce a fourth telecoms company in Belgium.

In the light of the above, you will not be surprised that the cost of telecoms in Belgium is higher than anywhere else in Europe.

Thus, you can easily imagine what will happen if a fourth player is allowed…

So far,  so good…

However, there is just a small glitch… The rules of the game are quite fuzzy. As I told you before, many politicians — and two dozens of public servants — have colluded with the Telecoms Industry to ‘bypass’ critical environmental laws over the last ten years. The evidence, I must add, is incontrovertible.

So, let us suppose that a fourth player is ready to move in. Surely, this actor wants to know the rules of the game. After all, nobody invests around one billion not knowing the risk…

In short, what are the Belgian laws? Now, we hit the nerve.

If the Brussels Minister of Environment introduces this moronic law just ahead of the general election of May 2019, there is a major uncertainty for rational players.

Not everyone in Belgium is a complete idiot. Surely, some concerned citizen will challenge the legality of this law before the Supreme Court. And that person has six months to do so… We are now in November 2019.

The Belgian Supreme Court will answer 12 months later, sometimes even a bit later. That brings us in November 2020, and more likely in early 2021.

[UPDATE — A new text was quickly drafted — allowing almost a tenfold increase in power emission of the telecom antennas– and the project was rushed in order for the law to enter into force before the May 26 2019 general election. But suddenly, out of the blue, the environment minister announced on March 29 2019 that the project was cancelled due to health consideration.]

Bingo! Finally, things are making just a bit of sense… Then again, this is just my two cents.

PS: In a recent post, I also told you that these politicians and public servants have hidden a very sophisticated espionage operation conducted in Brussels by a non-friendly intelligence agency against US interests. I think this one is being taken care of.

UPDATE (April 2 2019) — Last Wednesday (March 27 2019), Belgium’s regional and federal governments have failed to reach an agreement on the planned auction of 5G spectrum licences.

Telecom minister Philippe de Backer said it would be up to the next administration to take the matter further. (The 2019 Belgian federal election will take place on Sunday May 26 2019, the same day as the 2019 European Parliament elections and the 2019 Belgian regional elections.)

Without an agreement by the coordinating committee, the necessary legislation cannot be implemented to organise the auction.

What is the problem? Well, officially at least, the various governments did not agree on the division of proceeds from the auction.

Auction proceeds are normally split 80 percent for the federal government and 20 percent for the regions. But one of the regional governments wants a greater share of the expected proceeds of EUR 650-700 million.

Although the story is certainly true, there is no doubt that this dispute is not the real reason for delaying the auction.

Indeed, it should be perfectly possible to launch the auction of the 5G frequency bands while postponing the decision regarding the division of the revenues.

So, what is really going on?

Well, as I have explained before, there are plenty of unknowns in this dossier such as the decision to allow Huawei equipment in the 5G infrastructure. But, in the light of recent developments, this issue seems to be under control from the point of view of the telecoms actors.

Then, there is the proposal to update of an environmental law limiting the power of GSM antennas. I have already explained the timeline of this project.

But, I also believe that the is an other major issue regarding the unexpected interest of a new operator for the 5G in Belgium.

An obscure Chinese company is rumored to be willing to bid for some frequency bands in the next auction. There is no law to prevent them from participating in the auction.

So, the Belgian government face a major dilemma. Should they organize an auction allowing four operators (the current three plus the new player) or should they organize the auction for three telecoms operators?

There is no easy solution to that one. If they decide to offer bands for only three operators, the Chinese company may very well outbid one of the current operators.

But if they decide to allow four operators, the loss of bandwidth — and revenues — for the existing operators will be very significant.

And of course, until that decision is made, there is simply no way to organize the auction.

UPDATE (July 7 2019) — The Telecompaper website has just published a short article titled: “Belgian business groups warn govt against delaying 5G”.

“The Belgian government needs to speed up plans for issuing 5G spectrum, so the country does not fall behind in the global development, according to a letter from the Belgian Association of Marketing (BAM) and the Belgian international chamber of commerce.

They warned that if 5G is left until after a new government is formed, it could put off foreign investors or start-ups from working in Belgium.

The federal and regional governments have been unable to reach agreement on the division of proceeds from an eventual 5G auction. As a result of national and regional elections in late May, the plans have been put on hold until new government coalitions are formed.

The business associations said this is not acceptable that 5G has to wait for a new government, while other countries across Europe, the US and elsewhere are already starting 5G services. In addition to putting off investors, the delay in 5G puts at risk the EU’s targets for fast broadband services and new technological developments to fight climate change.

The groups said waiting longer is not an option, as the country needs to be ready by early 2020 to keep up with the global developments.”

Please, keep in mind that PROXIMUS — the leading Belgium Telecoms operator — is a “Founding Architect” of the Belgian Association of Marketing (BAM)!

And by the way, in October 2018, I posted a “Quick Note on the Corruption of NATO Governments“. I suggested that the party of the Prime Minister will pay dearly for that poor choice at the general elections next year and that, if true, this could have grave consequences as it may be impossible to form a Belgian Federal Government. Let us say that I was not wrong…

UPDATE (July 5 2020) — When I suggested that the auction for the 5G frequency bands in Belgium could be delayed beyond 2020, there was very few people to believe that prediction. Today, it is a safe bet.

In the meanwhile,  IBPT — the Belgian regulator — has granted five companies (40 MHz of channel bandwidth) temporary 5G licences.

Moreover… Last week, the Belgian National Security Council (NVR) has decided to protect the future 5G network against espionage.

RELATED POST: One Year Ago — BELGIUM — Brussels Times Publishes Huawei Propaganda Disguised As Journalism

Telecom Minister Philippe De Backer (Open VLD) has announced that Belgium has decided to “impose strict safety conditions to prevent undesirable use”.

Huawei (and ZTE) equipment should only be allowed in a very limited role.

In practice, the Belgian National Security Council has imposed a full ban on using high-risk vendors in the “core” and “backbone” parts of 5G networks and a cap of 35 percent for such vendors in the “radio access” part of the network.

Belgium’s security services will also define geographical areas and “sensitive sites” where the use of these vendors will be restricted. [POLITICO] Please, keep in mind that Brussels hosts the NATO headquarters and the main EU institutions.

This week, Belgian Newspaper La Libre published a rare interview from the n°2 of the Belgian Intelligence agency.

According to the interview, the top 3 priorities are now very clearly stated.

I — Islamist Fascism

II — Far Right extremists

III — Chinese espionage

This is the first time that Belgian Intelligence services acknowledge the problem of Chinese espionage in the Kingdom.

We have come a long way in the last 12 months. Perhaps, this blog has played a little part.

Finally, Last month, Brussels Environment Minister Alain Maron (Green party — ECOLO) announced that the government will organize a public debate about 5G.

RELATED POST: My Time to Fight — Going Full Che Against 5G

Maron claims that the decisions on new emission standards (allowing more power emitted from the antennas) will be taken in full transparency. The Minister did not say what that public debate should look like.

“It may take the form of a community consultation, a public inquiry, hearings or a traditional committee of inquiry.”

“The government will discuss the appropriate form and decide as quickly as possible. Experts will certainly be involved in the debate.”

I promise you that I will help the good minister with the transparency part of his project as I intend to explain the dozen of crimes his administration has already committed in that dossier.

UPDATE (September 22 2020) — On January 29 2019,  I suggested that the auction for the 5G frequency bands in Belgium could be delayed beyond 2020. At the time, there was very few people to believe that prediction. Today, it is a fact.

The European Commission has now admitted that 5G telecommunications networks will not be launched across all EU member states by the end of 2020 as planned.

Amazingly, Commission Vice-President for Digital Margrethe Vestager and the Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton blame the coronavirus crisis for the postponements in spectrum frequency auctions!?! [Commission concedes delay in 5G deployment across EU]

“Obviously there’s going to be a delay,” Breton said, responding to a question from EURACTIV. “We’ve got about a four-month delay on what we had planned. That really ties in with the four months of lockdown that we’ve lived through.”

“Now, we are urging member states to continue moving forward as quickly as possible,” Breton added, also stressing that so far, only around 20% of the frequencies for 5G spectrum have been granted in the EU. 

That is of course entirely false. Pure disinformation. As I explained in January 2019 — a full year before the outbreak of the pandemic in Brussels — the delay was and is still caused by several issues.

Belgian politics — There is no consensus on how the proceeds from the auction should be allocated and as long as Belgium does not have a federal government, this problem can not be solved.

Environmental concerns — The Brussels environmental law limiting the power of GSM antennas seems to be a serious issue. The Brussels government plans to pass a new law allowing more power and many groups strongly oppose that idea.

Earlier this month, Rudi Vervoort, minister-president of Brussels’ regional government, said public concerns about the health impact of 5G networks means politicians and interest groups still need to convince Brussels residents about the technology’s benefits.

“We are not against testing zones, for example at the airport or in the European quarter,” Vervoort told POLITICO in an interview conducted at the end of August [2020]. But, he added: “To make it more widely available, I think that will need a wider debate.”

“Public opinion, whether we want it or not, is also an actor in the development of this project,” said Vervoort. “The deployment of 5G cannot happen behind the back of the citizens.”

Huawei and Espionage — Despite hosting important international institutions, Belgium is about the only country that build its 4G networks entirely (100%) on Chinese technology.

But Brussels has finally been forced to wake up to the dangers of Chinese espionage, and it is no longer possible to build a Chinese 5G network in the European capital.

Unknown unknowns — Well, as Donald Rumsfeld — George W. Bush’s secretary of defense — once said:

“As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

And to be honest, Intel Today suspects that there are also unknown unknowns in this very hot dossier. Time will tell. Stay tuned!

END of UPDATE

REFERENCES

Belgian 5G auction pushed back to 2020 — TeleComparer

Belgium postpones 5G spectrum auction to 2020 or later  — Mobile Europe

=

5G — Belgium Postpones Spectrum Auction to 2020. And Maybe Later… Why?

5G — Belgium Postpones Spectrum Auction to 2020. And Maybe Later… Why?  [UPDATE]

5G — Belgium Postpones Spectrum Auction to 2020. And Maybe Later… Why? [UPDATE II]

One Year Ago — Belgium Postpones 5G Spectrum Auction to 2020. And Maybe Later… Why?

One Year Ago — Belgium Postpones 5G Spectrum Auction to 2020. And Maybe Later… Why? [UPDATE: EU Commission blames COVID-19 for 5G delay!]

5G — Belgium Postpones 5G Spectrum Auction to 2020. And Maybe Later… Why? [UPDATE : Belgian 5G auction not expected before early-2022]