United States: Germany will give up the 5G on Huawei – Digital

• For years, the United States has pursued a strategy: the emerging Chinese telecommunications sector, particularly Huawei, should be pushed back.
• Allies around the world are now urged to refrain from using Chinese products when developing telecommunications networks.
• The German authorities have been seeking for years evidence of espionage activities. Until now, they have found nothing.

The German government network is a peculiarity. When departmental or government officials call or send an email, they use a dedicated connection: the fiber optic cables are fixed in steel pipes and all the infrastructure is under control. The so-called "Berlin-Bonn information network" is operated by Telekom. But the network has another peculiarity: it does not require any Chinese component – not a single router, no software is made in China. That's what the Deutsche Telekom government imposed on him. We want to be sure and prevent any form of espionage.

This is why free China is the norm, and if it is up to the US government, this special rule should apply to a large extent in Germany in the future. Washington has sent an urgent request to Berlin to give up Chinese components in the upcoming expansion of the billion-dollar mobile network to 5G. "The US is really putting pressure on this," he said. a government official familiar with the matter.

The call fits perfectly into a US strategy observable for years: the emerging Chinese telecommunications sector, especially Huawei, should be postponed. The allegations of espionage are becoming stronger. FBI President Christopher Wray warned Huawei's products at a meeting of the intelligence committee in February this year: "We are deeply concerned about the risks this would pose when companies in our networks telecommunications companies occupy positions of power and these companies feel committed to a government that does not share our values. "The heads of intelligence services, the NSA and the CIA, agreed with Wray. Since August, US government employees are no longer allowed to use Huawei or ZTE products. Even companies that want to work with the government can not hinder the products of the two Chinese manufacturers.

US presses on allies

Now, the United States wants to extend this line to their allies. Australia has already announced that it will refrain from upgrading its Huawei component network. The federal government faces a dilemma. Huawei is good at doing business here, establishing its position in the market with low prices, which are barely profitable. It is only later that the products will become more expensive. Huawei also offers equipment for the 5G network. Telekom has been a good customer of the group for years. Follow a "multi-vendor strategy," said a spokeswoman for Telekom. The group also uses products from Nokia, Ericsson and Cisco. "Given the timely expansion and investment needs, it will however be difficult in Germany to afford to exclude performing suppliers," said the spokeswoman.

Can Huawei be excluded from the German market simply because of the US intervention? Unlike the government network, German telecommunications have Chinese components. The German secret services and the Federal Office of Information Security (BSI) have been trying for years to find evidence that the material could be manipulated. The devices are dismantled, tested and tested – sometimes at the company's headquarters, sometimes in their own laboratory. Nothing has been found. For official tests – which work the same way for US products – BSI's technical staff is piloted. They are not always allowed to take their own computers and if they are, they will be shredded after the exam. After all, manufacturers do not want BSI employees to be able to hand over business secrets to Germany, and BSI does not want to leave the software clbadified.