German carriers worry that banning Huawei would delay the completion of 5G networks in the country

Germany’s carriers are Huawei customers and they have complained that banning the company would delay the completion of its 5G network build-out for years and add billions of dollars to the cost of finishing the project. And as we’ve pointed out, countries that complete their networks before others will have a head start when it comes to monetizing the faster 5G speeds.

Under the new rules, German wireless providers Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Telefonica Deutschland will have to apply enhanced security standards to important parts of their networks. Suppliers like Huawei will have to be certified by Germany’s cybersecurity authority, the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). If equipment from any supplier is used for spying, that vendor could be banned and sued for damages by the carriers.

Last week, the European Union (EU) released a warning to member states about the increased possibility of cyber attacks due to the launch of 5G networks. The warning mentioned the possibility of attacks carried out by “non-EU state or state-backed actors” and discussed the importance of coming up with new ways to keep telecom networks safe from attack. The EU did not specifically mention Huawei or China.

Besides the U.S., Australia and Japan have banned Huawei’s networking equipment from being used in their countries. Britain’s carriers have told the Parliament that it should concentrate on the economic promise of 5G and just allow Huawei’s equipment to be employed in the country’s 5G networks. The U.K. has discovered, like other countries including the U.S., that Huawei is one of a small group of companies that have the technological know-how to get 5G service up and running. As a result, it seems that the warnings from the U.S. about Huawei are being blatantly ignored in Europe. Will this lead to security issues years down the road? If you believe Huawei, the answer is “no.”