DT Denies Deepening Partnership with Huawei

Deutsche Telekom dismissed a report stating it had deepened a 5G network supplier partnership with Huawei. The operator insists it had actually reduced its business with the Chinese vendor over the past three years.

In a blog post, DT reiterated its multi-vendor strategy, which outlined its approach of buying equipment from a large number of manufacturers so it is not dependent on individual companies. Statement was a reaction to an article by German newspaper Handelsblatt, which claimed the operator had ignored security warnings and moved to increase dependency on Huawei as a supplier for its 5G network, broadband, cloud services and television offering. Citing confidential documents, Handelsblatt added DT had agreed to rely on US-free network components for the 5G network, in line with recent tightened restrictions on Huawei.

However, DT denied the report, pointing out it had actually cut down its business with Huawei since 2017. “Deutsche Telekom has said on several occasions that we are moving out Chinese vendors in the mobile communications core network. Fact is that the sales of Deutsche Telekom with Huawei have been declining in the last three years,“ the company explained. DT added 30 percent of its technology purchases are made with US manufacturers, 25 percent from European and Chinese manufacturers, and the remainder from Asia and small local providers.