S**********p
发帖数: 331 | 1 默克尔赌上了全部政治资本力挺华为 Chancellor Angela Merkel "threw all her
political weight behind keeping Huawei, at least for some part, in Germany,"
said Benner.
How U.S. restrictions drove Deutsche Telekom and Huawei closer together
Internal documents illustrate leading European operator’s special
relationship with Huawei.
Huawei
Deutsche Telekom and Huawei agreed on a deal in 2019 that said the Chinese
supplier would work to avoid supply chain disruption caused by U.S. measures
. | David Becker/Getty Images
By LAURENS CERULUS
07/07/2020 06:09 AM EDT
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Global telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom strengthened its strategic
partnership with Huawei last year despite growing defiance toward the
dominant Chinese 5G vendor, documents reviewed by POLITICO show.
The internal company records describe how Deutsche Telekom and Huawei agreed
on a deal in mid-2019 that said the Chinese supplier would take measures to
avoid supply chain disruption caused by U.S. measures, as well as cover the
costs of potential damages and delays.
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The deal was struck just weeks before the U.S. administration imposed
restrictions on businesses dealing with the Chinese firm in May 2019 — a
milestone for Washington's efforts to push back against Huawei's dominance
on 5G equipment.
It laid the groundwork for a partnership between the two companies for the
early rollout of 5G networks in Europe, despite national lawmakers' efforts
in key markets like Germany, the Netherlands and Poland to reduce the use of
Chinese equipment.
In the months after the deal, the companies underlined mutual commitments to
treat each other in preferential ways. Deutsche Telekom executives
described Huawei repeatedly as a "strategic partner" that is "key for our 5G
plans," according to the internal documents. On Huawei's end, Deutsche
Telekom was described as a "preferred customer" for its 5G equipment.
Deutsche Telekom has repeatedly declined in the past to disclose how much of
its networks consist of Huawei equipment.
But in its internal communication, it has likened the scenario of not being
able to use Huawei in its broader 5G rollout to "armageddon," a recent
report in German paper Handelsblatt showed.
A spokesperson for Deutsche Telekom declined to comment on questions related
to the documents but said the company "takes the global discussion about
the security of network elements very seriously."
The spokesperson added: "We are already pursuing a multi-vendor strategy for
the network elements used all over our networks. We buy from a variety of
vendors like Ericsson, Nokia, Cisco, Huawei and many others."
Huawei's 'care-free package'
At the core of the mutual agreement is a commitment by Huawei to shoulder
the burdens and costs of the U.S. restrictions that have bogged down the
Chinese vendor in the past year.
"This pledge by Huawei to pay for any disruption adds to that incentive to
stick with Huawei," said Thorsten Benner, director of the Berlin-based
Global Public Policy Institute, calling it a "care-free package" offered to
Deutsche Telekom.
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The deal includes a clause that annulled provisions if local regulations and
trade controls prohibited Deutsche Telekom from acquiring and using the
products.
A spokesperson for Huawei said the company "never comments on any specifics
of deals or contracts with our customers worldwide." The spokesperson added:
"We have worked successfully with Deutsche Telekom in many areas over many
years and look forward to continuing this cooperation.”
The agreement laid out in internal documents instructs the Chinese equipment
-maker to set up emergency stocks of spare parts in countries where Deutsche
Telekom has local operations. That includes Germany, Poland, the Czech
Republic, the Netherlands and Austria.
It spans a list of components that would allow Deutsche Telekom to continue
running its networks for at least two years, until April 2021. It allows for
Deutsche Telekom to call on Huawei to transfer spare parts from the vendor'
s stocks to those of the operator, and for Deutsche Telekom to unload unused
spare parts with Huawei when the contract ends — effectively giving the
German operator group preferential access to Huawei's stocks.
It also softened the blow as Huawei started grappling with delivering "small
cells" used to increase local network capacity for mobile internet users.
These components suffered a big hit due to the U.S. restrictions last year.
At the end of 2019, the two companies held advanced discussions on a major
5G deal that would have cemented their partnership, Reuters reported in
December, citing three sources familiar with the matter. The operator
however put that deal on hold due to political concerns, the news service
wrote.
The companies' dealings largely defied efforts by security officials to
reduce Europe's reliance on Chinese equipment in 5G networks during 2019.
The U.S. administration started warning European counterparts in 2018 about
the risks it associates with Huawei, arguing it is under direct influence by
the Chinese state. In May 2019, Washington imposed export controls that
hampered Huawei's suppliers of chips, software and other components from
selling to the Chinese company.
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In Europe, security officials started looking into the security risks in
early 2019. From as early as March 2019, the European Union worked on common
measures that aimed to decrease Europe's reliance on equipment from Huawei
and its smaller Chinese competitor ZTE.
The security concerns have prompted a number of countries to ban Chinese
suppliers in "core" parts of 5G networks.
It has also prompted some operators to "swap" Huawei equipment for kit from
its European competitors, Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia, in new 5G
rollout plans, including in Denmark, Ireland and Norway. It has also
prompted promises from large operator groups, including Deutsche Telekom, to
phase out Chinese suppliers from "core" networks to alleviate security
concerns.
German exception
Allegations that Huawei poses a security risk largely fell on deaf ears at
the German chancellery in Berlin.
Chancellor Angela Merkel "threw all her political weight behind keeping
Huawei, at least for some part, in Germany," said Benner.
In the past year she dismissed growing pressure from her junior coalition
partner SPD in parliament, part of her own conservative faction and even
government ministers like Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to impose much tougher
restrictions on Chinese vendors to participate in Germany's 5G rollout.
Merkel's stance reflected warnings by Deutsche Telekom — of which the
German state holds a 14.5-percent stake — that a ban on Huawei gear would
put 5G rollout at risk of delays and huge extra costs. Other German
businesses, including the powerful automotive sector, also fear banning
Huawei could lead to retaliatory measures in China that hurt their profits.
"Merkel's chief concern is about retaliation on German companies in China,"
said Benner. "It's not Deutsche Telekom's pressure that's driving this ...
but rather the concerns about German businesses and large German companies
that depend on the Chinese market."
T-Mobile deal in U.S. unaffected
Deutsche Telekom also resisted the U.S. government's pressure to drop Huawei
— at a time when it was seeking approval from U.S. regulators for a major
telecoms merger with local operator Sprint.
The German group merged its T-Mobile U.S. affiliate with Sprint in April,
forming a third telecom operator aimed at challenging industry giants AT&T
and Verizon.
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As it sought government approval for the deal, T-Mobile U.S. executives took
a radically different approach to the use of Chinese vendors than the group
's leadership in Bonn.
John Legere, then-chief executive for T-Mobile U.S., last year testified to
the U.S. House of Representatives in a hearing on the Sprint merger that "we
do not use Huawei or ZTE network equipment in any area of our network.
Period."
Legere added the U.S. operator would buy equipment "only from trusted
network equipment suppliers with a strong security track record in the
United States." The operator's position complies with U.S. policies that ban
the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment.
The U.S. operator is also at the center of a landmark indictment unsealed by
the U.S. Department of Justice last year that alleges Huawei attempted to
steal trade secrets in 2012-2014.
Huawei's spokesperson said: "Huawei and T-Mobile settled their disputes in
2017" over the allegations of corporate espionage, adding that an earlier U.
S. jury verdict found "neither damage, unjust enrichment nor willful and
malicious conduct by Huawei in T-Mobile’s trade secret claim.”
Way forward in Europe
For Huawei in Europe, being able to supply Deutsche Telekom meant a near-
guarantee that it would hold a strong position on the European market for
years to come.
The German operator is Europe's largest telco group and has operations in
more than 50 countries, including 17 EU member countries. It serves 184
million mobile customers worldwide, it said. It is also the largest
shareholder of U.S. network operator T-Mobile.
The company has supported new cybersecurity legislation that would raise
requirements for all 5G equipment vendors — Chinese and European alike —
through technical measures. It also said last year that it planned to "phase
out Chinese suppliers from the safety-critical core network," a smaller
part of procurement spending for telecoms networks.
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For their "radio access networks" (RAN) — which account for the largest
chunk of mobile network equipment spending — a new report by telecoms
consultancy firm Strand Consulting estimated Deutsche Telekom's local
affiliates, Magenta Telekom in Austria, T-Mobile in the Netherlands and T-
Mobile in the Czech Republic, rely exclusively on Huawei. T-Mobile in Poland
would rely on the Chinese vendor for more than half of its RAN network, too.
Local affiliates in Romania, Slovakia and Greece on the other hand would
rely on European vendors Ericsson and Nokia for RAN equipment.
In its home market, Germany, Deutsche Telekom is estimated to rely on Huawei
for 65 percent of its base stations and antennas, according to Strand's
report.
These figures describe the group's 4G radio access networks, which it is
currently upgrading to provide an initial 5G offering in Europe.
The operator announced in mid-June that it had rolled out 5G to more than 16
million people in Germany across some 12,000 antennas across the country,
for which it "concluded new contracts with both companies" Ericsson and
Huawei. | l******t
发帖数: 55733 | 2 叔早看出默克尔脑后有反骨。叔是第一个指出欧盟其实是站中的把 | s*x
发帖数: 8041 | 3 主要是被NSA监听怕了
【在 l******t 的大作中提到】
: 叔早看出默克尔脑后有反骨。叔是第一个指出欧盟其实是站中的把
| F*****d
发帖数: 2848 | 4 翻来覆去是个钱的问题，华为可以大幅补贴德国，从钱的角度来说肯定愿意用华为。老
墨不过是用这个做筹码找川胖要钱，川胖如果真给补贴，老墨马上就会转向。 | s*****n
发帖数: 1998 | 5 美帝的棱镜计划， 已经让麻痛连默克尔的dildo品牌都搞清楚了， 默克尔一朝被蛇咬十
年怕井绳， 我鳖至少不会比美帝更下流
,"
measures
【在 S**********p 的大作中提到】
: 默克尔赌上了全部政治资本力挺华为 Chancellor Angela Merkel "threw all her
: political weight behind keeping Huawei, at least for some part, in Germany,"
: said Benner.
: How U.S. restrictions drove Deutsche Telekom and Huawei closer together
: Internal documents illustrate leading European operator’s special
: relationship with Huawei.
: Huawei
: Deutsche Telekom and Huawei agreed on a deal in 2019 that said the Chinese
: supplier would work to avoid supply chain disruption caused by U.S. measures
: . | David Becker/Getty Images
| w***x
发帖数: 1763 | 6 美国毕竟是有重大共同核心利益的盟友。
只是德国不一定喜欢美国一骑绝尘式的独霸罢了，那样对于欧盟和德国也弊大于利。
德国差不多是在华利益仅次于美国第二多的国家了，和华为的关系也很密切，莱卡的镜
头让很多德国人乐于买华为或荣耀手机。
咬十
【在 s*****n 的大作中提到】
: 美帝的棱镜计划， 已经让麻痛连默克尔的dildo品牌都搞清楚了， 默克尔一朝被蛇咬十
: 年怕井绳， 我鳖至少不会比美帝更下流
:
: ,"
: measures
|
|
