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Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

bloomberg.com

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Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#11

Post by ElBarto »

stkdump wrote: post #5

> An outright ban on Huawei is seen as legally impossible, but German officials are looking at tools that would have the same effect. How can 'tools' with the effect of a ban be legal, when a ban isn't?

Friendly advice to German telecom companies's CEOs can be an effective 'tool'...

But must guess is that Germany will be very careful and still let Huawei have a footprint in the country because Germany is a heavy investor in China for decades, and Huawei actually moved their EU HQ from the UK to Germany. They will want to stay on good enough terms with China.

Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#13

Post by sbx320 »

stkdump wrote: post #5

> An outright ban on Huawei is seen as legally impossible, but German officials are looking at tools that would have the same effect. How can 'tools' with the effect of a ban be legal, when a ban isn't?

The usual approach would be to define requirements in a way that are unsuitable for the specific vendor you want to get rid of.

This is more common the other way around, where a government wants a specific company to do a job, but is required to issue a public call for bids. In that case the requirements are just written exactly for that specific company.

Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#14

Post by deugtniet »

I think there is one reason why western governments are opposed to Huawei systems in their communications networks. Western governments have historically had more trust in the US being a partner they can rely on, which is not the case (yet) for the Chinese.

All governments spy on each other, and they do whatever is necessary for their spying needs, the US, European nations as well as the Chinese. And I bet this includes exploiting Huawei/Cisco/Nokia/Motorolla hardware. Only difference is in this case for Germany: The US is more trusted than the Chinese. Thus the US/Europe get more leeway in these hardware purchases.

Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#15

Post by johnnycab »

Maakuth wrote: post #4
phil9987 wrote: post #3

It's easy to point at Huawei and say 'they are not trustworthy'. The question is, what alternatives are out there and can they deliver?

Nokia and Ericsson are the other big 5G vendors. I don't know of any problems in their ability to deliver.

The reality is slightly different.

https://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/huawei-muscle-puts-er...

Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#16

Post by martin_a »

ElBarto wrote: post #2

- Hey, who's that guy sitting behind you in the corner? - Oh, just an American friend, don't mind him, bitte.

Don't understand the downvotes, this is what this is all about. It's not about Huawei being more or less trustworthy than the others, it's just about the US (three-letter agencies) "not liking" Huawei.

Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#17

Post by ThJ »

Huawei is an interesting case. It normally isn't a problem to operate out of a country like China, but telecommunications infrastructure is sensitive. We are essentially seeing a rare case of differences in political systems having real-world effects on the export of goods. If China had the same relationship to the West as today, but stronger legal protections, this wouldn't be an issue at all, I suspect.

Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#18

Post by guitarbill »

deugtniet wrote: post #14

I think there is one reason why western governments are opposed to Huawei systems in their communications networks. Western governments have historically had more trust in the US being a partner they can rely on, which is not the case (yet) for the Chinese. All governments spy on each other, and they do whatever is necessary for their spying needs, the US, European nations as well as the Chinese. And I bet this inclu…

"trusted" is a very optimistic way of putting it. but better the devil you know (e.g. Cisco/NSA) than the devil you don't.

Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#19

Post by Nokinside »

phil9987 wrote: post #3

It's easy to point at Huawei and say 'they are not trustworthy'. The question is, what alternatives are out there and can they deliver?

In 4G and 5G networks there are only 4 big network infrastructure companies left: Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and ZTE. Two of them are Chinese and two are from EU. Samsung is fifth but it has only 3% of the market.

Re: Huawei isn't trustworthy 5G partner, German spy agency says

#20

Post by cyphunk »

ThJ wrote: post #17

Huawei is an interesting case. It normally isn't a problem to operate out of a country like China, but telecommunications infrastructure is sensitive. We are essentially seeing a rare case of differences in political systems having real-world effects on the export of goods. If China had the same relationship to the West as today, but stronger legal protections, this wouldn't be an issue at all, I suspect.

also if in the future we actually make cellular standards where encryption isn't demarcated at the tower and instead setup e2e between consumer devices, some risks are mitigated

it's really a shame that with both 4g and 5g standards bodies did not already work on this.

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