Deutsche Telekom says it’s not so, but German newspapers are uncovering indications that the German firm may be broadening its contacts to blacklisted Chinese telecom company Huawei.
Although Deutsche Telekom spokespersons contend this is, as quoted, “contrary to the reality,” investigators believe that the German provider is likely to lean more heavily on Huawei for 5G rollouts than previously thought.
Reports also show Deutsche Telekom and Huawei discussing ways to implement “U.S.-free” network builds, which may be concerning to those with a certain sense of the American centrality in this sector.
“(The Handelsblatt German newspaper) had cited a Huawei spokesman as saying that the Chinese firm had never sought to hide its close relationship with Telekom,” writes an unnamed reporter for Reuters. “Deutsche Telekom is against any blanket bans on foreign vendors of telecoms network equipment as it believes these would reduce its flexibility.”
This may have to do with the recent untethering of decades-old alliances between the U.S. and its European Union allies.
We know intuitively that NATO is disintegrating under the weight of unprecedented cozy relations between the American and Russian administrations.
We also know that America has tried as hard as it can to detach from Huawei, although chipmakers and others argue they need the company’s wares for their supply chains.
“Were the moves against Huawei about preventing a major threat to the nation’s cyber security, and maintaining advantage in a future cyber war? Or were they about Trumpian efforts to reshore manufacturing jobs back to the United States?” wrote Johnny Ball at the New Statesman last year. “Restricting Huawei’s access to American goods could act as the catalyst for China to accelerate its own production of high technology, and move away from its former role as the world’s factory for cheap, low-quality goods.”
Look for more on this as companies make global alliances to fine-tune their 5G rollouts in a rapidly evolving telecom world.
