The German government said it will discuss security concerns with key European partners and government officials in the U.S.
Germany expects to define its own security standards for the deployment of 5G infrastructure, international press reported Chancellor Angela Merkel as saying.
This development comes days after the Trump administration warned the German government that intelligence information sharing will be limited if Germany allows Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei to participate in 5G infrastructure contracts.
Merkel said that the German government was focused on providing guarantees for the security of digital networks, including the 5G mobile infrastructure.
“Security, particularly when it comes to the expansion of the 5G network, but also elsewhere in the digital area, is a very important concern for the German government, so we are defining our standards for ourselves,” Merkel said.
She also said that the government would discuss security concerns with partners in Europe as well as with appropriate government offices in the U.S.
Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell sent a letter to the German authorities saying that allowing the participation of Huawei or other Chinese equipment vendors in Germany’s 5G projects would mean the U.S. won’t be able to maintain the same level of cooperation with German security agencies.
Michael Grosse-Broemer, a conservative leader in parliament, said Germany had the capability to address its own security in the 5G field, adding that “there is no need for pointers from the U.S. ambassador.”
However, Merkel’s transatlantic coordinator, Peter Beyer, said that both the German and the U.S. governments had agreed on the underlying security issues.
“There are justified doubts about whether a company that is close to the Chinese government can credibly achieve these security standards, which are imperative for such highly sensitive applications,” Beyer said in a statement.
Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) recently published the key elements of its additional security requirements for telecommunications networks and services.
The new requirements stipulate that systems may only be sourced from trustworthy suppliers whose compliance with national security regulations and provisions for the secrecy of telecommunications and for data protection is assured.
New requirements set by the German government also say that network traffic must be regularly and constantly monitored for any abnormality and, if there is any cause for concern, appropriate protection measures must be taken.
Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier recently said the country had no intentions to ban Huawei from building 5G networks in the country but highlighted that stricter security measures will be adopted for all vendors willing to take part in future network deployments in the country.
