Since January 1 this year, data center operators in Norway are subject to the registration requirement under the new Electronic Communications Act. Anyone who operates data centers must register with the Norwegian Communications Authority (Nkom), which is the supervisory authority for the data center industry. There will be a transition period until July 1 for registration of data centers that are already in operation.
"This is not a permit or approval scheme from the authorities. It is purely a registration obligation, and data center operators can start their operations as soon as the registration is completed", says Nkom's Security Director, Svein Scheie.
Dependent on data centers
According to a survey conducted by Respons Analyse on behalf of Nkom, 44 percent of the population says they are positive about data centers being established in Norway. One in three is unable to decide whether they think it is positive or not.
"We are all dependent on data centers, every single day. Almost everything we do on a PC or a smartphone goes through a data center. They are crucial in our digital everyday life. At the same time, this is a new industry, which has not been regulated until now. Therefore, the government will introduce a registration requirement for who is behind the data center, the contact person for the center and what services are offered", says Minister of Digitalization and Public Administration, Karianne Tung.
Strengthing security
The Electronic Communications Act regulates the security of data centers related to the placement of equipment, power supply, cooling and internal networks. Servers that customers have placed in the data center, or the services and apps that use the servers, are not covered by the new rules.
"There is currently uncertainty about how many data center operators operate in Norway, and estimates from different agencies vary. It is therefore important to gain an overview of the industry so that we can better secure our digital infrastructure and implement measures that protect against possible threats", says Scheie.
Image: Nkom's Security Director Svein Scheie (© Gunstein Myre/Nkom)
