Zeit Online has heard from "government circles" that the ban will affect components already installed by German operators as well as future deployments.
The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior are among the government departments that have been investigating the matter for months, tasked with determining whether components running the country's 5G networks "could endanger the security of Germans."
"Authorities are concerned that suppliers from countries such as China are under the control of their governments and that they have direct or indirect access to Germany's mobile networks. The test has not yet been officially completed, but the results can now apparently be determined," the report said.
Security authorities are apparently considering whether there is a "back door" in the toolkit that could somehow "allow foreign agents to access German communication channels" and that there are "foreign powers "(presumably China) could exert political pressure to disrupt mobile networks by shutting down components or withholding spare parts.
However, the report continues, "According to the government agency, BSI did not find any specific technical indications that backdoors were hidden in Chinese components. But there are serious indications that manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE are under the control of the Chinese government."
In that sense, it seems to be the same reason that led to the UK and US bans - not so much evidence of a conspiracy as fears of ties between China's Communist Party and any Chinese companies. If the government asks to see Huawei's or ZTE's databases, then they will be forced to do so.
Of course, all of this has to do with geopolitics, especially the deteriorating U.S.-China relationship - but it's interesting that when ZTE announced its 5G New Radio (NR) gNodeB last month, Germany seemed to take a different approach to all of this The product has been certified under the German NESAS (Network Equipment Security Assurance Scheme) program.
In a statement at the time, ZTE said, "The completion of this certification is ample proof that ZTE's product safety governance and 5G NR products meet Germany's strict safety requirements."
Whatever the details of the case, they can be seen against the backdrop of increased U.S. efforts to keep Huawei equipment out of the country, and the fact that more of its allies appear to be following suit.
