According to Germany’s economic ministry, the country is really going to face hard times in trying to replace telecommunication equipment from ZTE and Huawei from its carrier networks. Reuters has obtained a letter that was sent to the economic committee of the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
The letter warns that removing Chinese telecommunication technologies from Germany may have dreadful impacts. It says that taking this action may impact the operation of mobile networks. It will also affect the fulfilment of coverage requirements.
Removing Huawei Equipment from Germany will be Expensive 
Germany happens to be one of Huawei’s biggest clients in Europe, which means most of the country’s network equipment come from Huawei. Recently, the Chinese Embassy reported an estimate that about 60% of Germany’s network equipment is made by Huawei.
The United States has already made it mandatory for its network providers to remove all Huawei and ZTE equipment since 2020. However, Germany is finding this decision quite difficult to make. The country is now checking the technologies used in its network.
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Germany May Ask Carriers to Pay for the Cost 
As the report stated, the minister did not make mention of the total cost the country will incur in taking such an action. However, the law in Germany requires the carriers to handle the cost involved.
Just like what happened in the US, removing and replacing Chinese equipment was a very expensive thing to do. According to a report from the FCC, carriers had to ask for the financial support of the government. As of 2022, carriers had applied for about $5.6 billion government funds to help remove Chinese equipment.
Huawei is one of the largest manufacturers of telecommunication equipment in the world. The company has completed major projects around the globe in the past years. One of the main reasons why many companies prefer Huawei equipment is due to its relatively low prices coupled with high quality. Nevertheless, some countries like the United States have warned that, Huawei could be a security threat. This is mainly due to the company’s close relationship with the Chinese government.
For this reason, a few other countries including UK have taken a similar step against the Chinese tech company. Pressure from other nations could force Germany to follow suit and ban Huawei eventually.
