Germany to Phase Out Core 5G Components by Huawei and ZTE Within 5 Years

People walk past a Huawei customer service center in Berlin on March 12, 2019. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Berlin will ban critical components made by Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE from Germany’s 5G network in two steps over the next five years, the nation’s top security official said on July 11.

In the first stage of the planned phaseout, operators will remove Chinese-made technology from the country’s core network of 5G data centers in 2026.

In the second stage, the use of Chinese-made parts such as antennas, transmission lines, and towers will be eliminated by 2029.

The agreement follows talks between the interior ministry and major telecom providers, including Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Telefonica Deutschland, and aims to shield Germany’s critical infrastructure from the Chinese communist regime.

“We are protecting the essential infrastructure of Germany’s economy and the communication networks for citizens, businesses, and the government,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement on July 11.

“We need to reduce security risks and avoid one-sided dependencies like we had in the past.”

The revised timetable was extended from the Interior Ministry’s original proposal in September 2023.

Huawei equipment accounts for about 50 percent of the cell sites in Germany. Replacing them immediately would cost as much as 2.5 billion euros ($2.72 billion), according to a Strand Consult report.

Security Threat

In June 2020, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) formally designated Huawei and ZTE as national security threats because of their “close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and China’s military apparatus” and their obligation to “cooperate with the country’s intelligence services,” Ajit Pai, then-chairman of the FCC, said at the time.

The United States has been convincing its European allies to ban Chinese equipment from their critical networks over security concerns, claiming Beijing could manipulate the technology to eavesdrop on networks or sabotage communications infrastructure.

Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) passed the National Intelligence Act in June 2017, all Chinese citizens and companies have been legally obliged to turn over any information or data to the communist regime upon request.

According to Keith Krach, a former U.S. undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment, Huawei, a Chinese telecom giant with ties to the People’s Liberation Army, has been the backbone of the CCP’s surveillance state. For years, the regime has sold Huawei’s 5G infrastructure and services to authoritarian governments worldwide, Mr. Krach previously told The Epoch Times.

Other European allies of the United States, including the UK and Sweden, banned Chinese equipment from their critical networks in 2020.

Germany, as Europe’s biggest economy, accounts for about 25 percent of mobile customers in the continent, according to Mobile Europe, a telecom industry publication.

Reuters contributed to this report.