Germany's largest operator: 5G signal coverage will not be achieved quickly if Huawei is excluded

According to German media reports, Dirk Wössner, a member of the board of directors and general manager of Deutsche Telekom, Germany's largest telecommunications operator, said on the 2nd local time that if the goal of building 2,000 new LTE base stations by the end of this year is to be achieved, Huawei's participation is needed. He stressed that if Huawei is excluded, Deutsche Telekom will not be able to quickly solve the 5G signal coverage problem.

Dirk Weisner specifically pointed out that because the technologies of various 5G suppliers are not yet compatible, "if Huawei antennas are installed in an area, Ericsson equipment cannot be used there, and vice versa." He emphasized that if Huawei is excluded, "we will not be able to quickly eliminate 5G signal blind spots."

Earlier, German media Handelsblatt quoted internal government sources on April 29 as saying that Deutsche Telekom had notified the Federal Ministry of the Interior that it would strengthen cooperation with Huawei. It is reported that Deutsche Telekom's main competitors Vodafone and Telefonica have previously stated that they will continue to use Huawei equipment in the subsequent construction of 5G networks.

"Everyone must be clear that time is running out," said Dirk Weissner, adding that his competitors are working hard to build 5G networks, "and Chinese suppliers are also involved."