German telecoms reportedly trying to alter Huawei 5G solutions

Huawei and German telecoms are fighting the 5G solutions battle. The former offers significant network technologies but has been banned from providing such techs to foreign regions. But, the telecoms are seemingly finding ways to end this conflict.

US and UK authorities believe that Huawei and other Chinese 5G technologies can spy on their confidential data, posing a security threat. As a result, they sanctioned the company and restricted telecoms to use Huawei or ZTE 5G network solutions.

No doubt, Huawei counts as one of the best 5G solution suppliers in the world. It offers not only efficient but also budget-friendly network technologies to its customers.

Many German telecommunication companies went against the Huawei ban as they believe the decision could harm the country’s 5G network market. The forced removal could be a major damage with unnecessary expenses. That not only alarms Huawei’s rivals but also the German government due to security concerns.

A new solution:

German telecoms are now seeking ways to keep Huawei 5G solutions in the house. One of these ways is to alter certain components in the brand’s network technology and swap them with better foreign alternatives.

LightReading noted that Germany may soon allow telecom operators to retain Huawei RAN (Radio Access Network) kit if they can replace a particular part – the management system, used for control and updates by the end of 2029.

Telecoms can use a specific software instead of the configuration management while keeping the rest of the Huawei’s network tech as it is, without removing many parts.

Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and Vodafone have begun working on this case to address the issue. The government thinks that they can address the security issues if a particular components (configuration management) belongs to a foreign company rather than any Chinese Vendor.

The work is in progress, but the results of this alteration have yet to arrive. As per details, the telecoms may use a third-party system integrator to support this project.

Although certain people still oppose this step following unnecessary work and efforts. A teleom and certain technical experts said:

“…millions of parameters to configure in the RAN. The government plan does not eliminate the risk of Huawei including malicious code in 5G basestation software, which it is allowed to continue providing under the latest rules.”

Huawei hasn’t commented on this matter so far. But it has reportedly agreed to open a critical interface to address security concerns about its use in 5G networks.

German telecoms reportedly trying to alter Huawei 5G solutions (Image Credits: Huawei/X)

[source]