Germany Closing In on Huawei 5G Ban as Digital Ministry Resists

  • Plan bans Chinese critical components in core network by 2026
  • Interior, foreign and economy ministries back the proposal

A chip taken from a Huawei smartphone.

Photographer: James Park/Bloomberg
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Germany is nearing a decision to strip Chinese critical components from the nation’s 5G core network by 2026, with three of the four relevant ministries backing the measure, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The foreign and economy ministries support an interior ministry proposal to strip out equipment from Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. for national security reasons, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are not public. The digital ministry hasn’t signed off on it due to industry opposition, they said.