China syndromeTelefonica Deutschland Chooses Huawei to Build Its German 5G Network

Published 11 December 2019

Rebuffing U.S. pressure, German mobile provider Telefonica Deutschland announced Wednesday that it has chosen Finland’s Nokia and China’s Huawei to build its 5G network in Germany, the company. Huawei is a global leader in constructing equipment and infrastructure for ultra-high-speed 5G data networks, but the intelligence services of leading Western countries have argue that Huawei is a security threat because of its close ties with the Chinese military and intelligence establishments. 

Rebuffing U.S. pressure, German mobile provider Telefonica Deutschland announced Wednesday that it has chosen Finland’s Nokia and China’s Huawei to build its 5G network in Germany, the company.

Huawei is a global leader in constructing equipment and infrastructure for ultra-high-speed 5G data networks, but the intelligence services of leading Western countries have argue that Huawei is a security threat because of its close ties with the Chinese military and intelligence establishments. The United States has barred Huawei from large areas of the U.S. market, and has pressured other countries to follow, arguing that allowing Huawei to build a country’s communication infrastructure would allow China to spy on that country, and paralyze that country’s infrastructure in times of tension and conflict.

Bloomberg reports that Telefonica Deutschland, which operates under the O2 brand, is one of a small number of European operators which use Huawei as a 5G supplier. The company called Nokia and Huawei “proven strategic partners” on 5G infrastructure.

Germany’s other two mobile operators — market leader Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone — are existing customers of Huawei but have yet to publicly confirm whether they will stick with the Shenzhen-based networks leader for 5G.

The United States threated Germany and other Western countries that U.S. intelligence cooperation with them will be restricted if they allow Huawei into their critical infrastructure. Telefonica said that its cooperation with Huawei and Nokia on 5G is conditioned on the companies and their technology being scrutinized, and passing, the security certification required by German law.

Telefonica Deutschland said work on the 5G network should start at the beginning of 2020. The company said it expects to have 5G up and running in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, and Frankfurt by the end of 2021.

The EU said that Huawei “enjoys significant market penetration” in the EU as a result of the company’s “competitive prices and supposedly better quality.”

The United States has long argued that China could use Huawei’s 5G networks as a Trojan horse not only for on-going industrial, military, and political espionage, but also for sabotaging and disrupting key critical infrastructure nodes on behalf of the Chinese government.

In a 2019 study, the European Commission identified ensuring the cybersecurity of 5G networks as an “issue of strategic importance” for the EU.

In June, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier met with Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei, and emphasized that “the safety of telecommunications in Germany, the protection of citizens’ data and the certainty of German law being adhered to,” were important elements for permitting Huawei to build German networks.

The decisions would be taken on the basis of “clear security criteria through the certification of hardware and software,” said Altmaier.