Contested telecommunications as contested logistics - when your cargo is data

Strategic Signals Series

The following reflects insights one could draw from recent global developments, based on open-source intelligence and expert framing by the Babel Street Intelligence Solutions team. As events unfold, Babel Street rapidly synthesizes global signals into analysis-ready content for analysts and decision-makers who are navigating complex geopolitical terrains. The following discusses reframing the definition of contested logistics to change how we think about risk to critical infrastructure.

We counter contested logistics trust issues with supply chain illumination and vendor vetting. Knowing supply chain and vendor threats helps proactively avoid risk to your cargo. Are we empowering organizations to illuminate their digital supply chains in the same way? Which vendors comprise that string of assets and services, and what risks do they face? 

The same banned Chinese company that persists in US telco infrastructure produces a lot more equipment than just mobile device chips. It produces holistic 5G solutions that span the infrastructure and devices that comprise 5G architecture, including GPUs in the datacenters that run mobile networks.[7] Banned Chinese telcos have their own physical datacenter footprints outside of China as well,[8] blending where telcos stop and datacenters for other use cases begin.

The reason Chinese telco players are banned is because of national security concerns due to Chinese surveillance [9] — an archetypal risk of contested telecommunications. Where these Chinese companies are present, they represent a threat of physical access with the intent to surveil. We often talk of physical cables as vulnerable to intentional disruption[10] — another threat type for telecommunications. Entities that will cut a cable maliciously — like the Houthis — are also threats to ships.[11] We need greater illumination of the digital supply chain and assessment of threats to vendors that comprise them, because this company’s physical access to cables could just as easily be used for surveillance.

Land-based cables garner less attention than subsea cables, and threats to warehouses and datacenters even less still. Data in storage carries a physical risk for surveillance. Both warehouse and datacenter ecosystems invite increasingly “smart” solutions to canvass an inventory, another vector.[12] The vendors of the AI-driven “smart” parts drive the threat assessment back into the AI-driven chip space.[13] Given the recent re-entry of a US chip company into the Chinese AI-enabling chip market, [14] we would be wrong to assume all AI-driven chips for datacenter and warehouse applications will be secure. 

Perhaps more basic, datacenters and warehouses are buildings that have actual locked doors. They are surfaces for co-location of assets that represent the interests of disparate entities. Physical proximity invites creative avenues for surveillance. Although physical security [15] at the datacenter is critical, datacenter providers are not highly attuned to the need to attest to their advanced security measures.[16] But they should be highly attuned to the threat. Babel Street Strategic Intelligence monitors global datacenters, physical concentrations of threats at datacenter parks, and the threats faced by the vendors that supply them. 

End Notes 

[1] McFate, Jessica, Babel Street blog, “Contested Logistics: Hezbollah in the Americas,” Accessed Jul 23, 2025, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/att-to-pay-13-million-customer-data-breach

[2] Cerullo, Megan, CBS News, “AT&T to pay $13 million to settle FCC probe over cloud data breach,” Sep 17, 2024, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/att-to-pay-13-million-customer-data-breach

[3] Gadient, Austin, Forbes, “Lock All The Doors: The Cybersecurity Risks Of Overlooked Devices In Computer Networks,” Feb 21, 2025, https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/02/21/lock-all-the-doors-the-cybersecurity-risks-of-overlooked-devices-in-computer-networks

[4] Wilson, Michael, Nlyte Software, “The Edge Data Center Market: Growth, Trends, and Future Outlook,” Jul 11, 2025, https://www.nlyte.com/blog/the-edge-data-center-market-growth-trends-and-future-outlook

[5] World Wide Technology, “What Is a Colocation Data Center?” Jul 18, 2023, https://www.wwt.com/article/what-is-colocation

[6] Dano, Mike, Light Reading, “The US is moving very, very slowly away from Huawei,” Jul 3, 2024, https://www.lightreading.com/security/the-us-is-moving-very-very-slowly-away-from-huawei

[7] Morris, Iain, Light Reading, “Nvidia sees Huawei, not Intel, as the big AI-RAN 6G rival,” Jun 11, 2025, https://www.lightreading.com/6g/nvidia-sees-huawei-not-intel-as-the-big-ai-ran-6g-rival

[8] Data Center Map, Accessed Jul 23, 2025, https://www.datacentermap.com/germany/frankfurt/china-mobile-frankfurt

[9] The Guardian, “US bans China Telecom over national security concerns,” Oct 26, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/27/us-bans-china-telecom-from-operating-over-national-security-concerns

[10] Chang, Wayne and McCarthy, Simone, CNN, “A cut undersea internet cable is making Taiwan worried about ‘gray zone’ tactics from Beijing,” Jan 10, 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/09/china/undersea-cable-taiwan-intl-hnk

[11] Maltezou, Renee, Souliotis, Yannis and Saul, Jonathan, Reuters, “Six crew rescued, 15 missing after Houthis sink latest Greek ship in Red Sea,” Jul 10, 2025, https://www.reuters.com/world/maritime-security-firms-launch-mission-save-crew-greek-vessel-hit-by-houthis-2025-07-09

[12] Kesari, Ganes, Forbes, “Next-Gen Smart Warehouses: How AI Is Shaping The Modern Supply Chain,” Jun 26, 2024,  https://www.forbes.com/sites/ganeskesari/2024/06/26/smart-warehouses-how-ai-is-shaping-the-modern-supply-chain/

[13] Freifeld, Karen, Reuters, “Exclusive: TSMC could face $1 billion or more fine from US probe, sources say,” Apr 8, 2025,  https://www.reuters.com/technology/tsmc-could-face-1-billion-or-more-fine-us-probe-sources-say-2025-04-08

[14] Cheng, Evelyn, CNBC, “Jensen Huang lauds China’s AI models as Nvidia gears up to resume chip exports,” Jul 16, 2025, https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/16/jensen-huang-china-ai-models-nvidia-gears-up-to-resume-chip-exports-.html

[15] Carruthers, Stephanie, IBM, “The massive cybersecurity risk you’re overlooking: your office,” Apr 7, 2025,  https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/physical-cybersecurity

[16] National Cyber Security Centre, “Cloud Security Guidance,” Accessed Jul 23, 2025, https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/cloud/understanding-cloud-services/technically-enforced-separation-in-the-cloud

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this brief are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Babel Street or any of its affiliated organizations. The opinions expressed are based on open-source intelligence and are intended for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal, strategic, or operational advice.