T-Mobile owner insists Huawei network tech isn’t risky and pushes against the potential EU ban

Some days ago, we told you about the looming ban on Huawei network equipment that was discussed in the EU.

This doesn’t make Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile’s parent company) really happy and now, its CEO has something to say about it.

The Huawei ban prospects

A quick summary of the situation: the European Commission is pushing for a ban on Huawei and ZTE equipment in telecom networks in the EU. That means telco infrastructure like antennas, routers, and core systems could be banned, not Huawei handsets.

The thing is, there’s a 2020 guidance on avoiding “high-risk” vendors in the EU and now, the idea is to legally bind and force all 27 member states to remove Chinese gear from 5G and fixed-line networks or face potential penalties.

European officials argue the move is essential for network security, citing Huawei’s close ties to Beijing and the potential for espionage or sabotage. By centralizing supplier rules, the plan would limit national discretion and mark the EU’s strongest step yet to reduce dependence on Chinese technology.

DT’s stance

Recently, Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges strongly defended the company’s ongoing use of Huawei technology, emphasizing that the remaining equipment, mainly antennas and other non-critical components, does not present any security threat. He explained that the parts of the network where data is actually processed – the optical networks, connection networks, and the core architecture –are already completely free of Chinese technology.According to Höttges, these non-core Huawei elements are essentially passive infrastructure and do not interact with sensitive data, so their continued presence allows the network to operate efficiently without increasing security risks. This, he argued, makes full removal unnecessary and costly.

What now?

If the EU ban on Huawei goes through, I see it as a clear reminder of how fragile telecom infrastructure really is. Replacing safe, non-critical equipment comes at enormous cost, and while T-Mobile users here in the US shouldn’t directly pay for it, the move highlights how quickly regulatory decisions abroad can ripple through the industry and strain operators’ budgets.

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