After the Taurus wiretapping scandal, leading traffic light politicians and the Union are calling for decisive action against Huawei technology in the latest 5G mobile communications standard. “With increasing cyber attacks, we see how crucial a secure digital infrastructure is,” said Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Franziska Brantner, to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
“Every day that we wait makes us more vulnerable. That’s why it is important for the federal government to come to a decision on how to deal with providers like Huawei and to protect our 5G network from authoritarian influences,” warned the Green politician.
For the domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sebastian Hartmann, a systematic strategy for replacing critical components from Huawei from the German 5G network is urgently needed in order to reduce possible compromising structural dependencies.
Konstantin von Notz: Under no circumstances should we waste time
The Greens in the Bundestag are also calling for haste. “In view of the sharp increase in threats, we must not waste any more time,” said parliamentary group vice-president Konstantin von Notz. “The warnings from our security authorities are unanimous and could hardly be clearer,” says the domestic politician, who is also chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee for the Secret Services. “We expect the Chancellery to make a decision as quickly as possible based on the agreements made months ago.”
The deputy chairwoman of the Union parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz, demanded: “The Chancellor must act.” Companies should also realize that, in cases of doubt, security interests must take precedence over economic interests.
Banning Huawei and ZTE from the internet
The department of Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had already decided in September to radically ban Huawei and ZTE from the Internet. The three mobile phone providers Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefónica Deutschland (O2) should free their core networks of critical components of Chinese origin by the end of 2025.
By 2026, the large metropolises – especially the capital Berlin – should be free of Chinese components in the access network. According to the paper, FDP Minister Volker Wissing’s digital department has so far opposed the plan. “Strict security requirements under the Telecommunications Act already apply to the 5G expansion,” said a spokesman.