The CEO of Germany’s biggest mobile carrier, Vodafone, warned last week not to exclude Chinese tech giant Huawei from the 5G rollout in Germany. He said it would cause years of delay and extra costs.
Germany’s three big mobile carriers all heavily rely on Huawei for their networks.
Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, or BND, raised concerns over the potential threat of spying from Huawei already in 2011.
The former head of the agency, Gerhard Schindler, also sees the potential for sabotage.
More and more countries in Europe are deciding to follow the United States’ lead to ban Huawei from their 5G networks. Most recently, Sweden last month.
The Chinese Ambassador to Germany last year warned of “consequences” if Germany were to exclude Huawei.
The German government has resisted calls to directly ban Huawei. But a new law might indirectly lead to its exclusion.
