Germany moves to ban China’s Huawei, ZTE from its 5G network

London/Berlin CNN —

Germany will phase out components made by China’s Huawei and ZTE from its 5G wireless network over the next five years, a move that risks worsening its already strained relations with the world’s second-largest economy.

Mobile network operators including Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica have agreed to remove the components from their 5G “core networks” — which are connected to the internet and operate as control centers — by the end of 2026.

By the end of 2029, these components must also be purged from “access and transport networks,” which include the physical parts of the 5G network such as transmission lines and towers.

“In this way, we are protecting the central nervous systems of Germany as a business location — and we are protecting the communication of citizens, companies, and the state,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement Thursday. “We must reduce security risks and, unlike in the past, avoid one-sided dependencies.”

In the same statement, the German government underlined the importance of “secure and resilient telecommunications infrastructure,” given the “dangers of sabotage and espionage.”

“In order to avoid critical vulnerabilities and dependencies, trustworthy manufacturers must therefore be relied upon,” it added.

Huawei told CNN in a statement that “there is no specific evidence or scenario” that its technology has cybersecurity risks. “We will continue to cooperate with customers and partners in a constructive and open manner, promote the improvement and progress of cybersecurity, and promote the construction of mobile networks and digitalization in Germany,” the company added.

CNN could not reach ZTE for comment.