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The deal covers over 3,000 Open RAN sites across Germany
Nokia has announced a deal with Deutsche Telekom to support the deployment of over 3,000 sites for its Open RAN network in Germany.
The rollout, which is already underway in the Neubrandenburg region, will see Nokia replace equipment from the incumbent vendor, Huawei. Partnering with Fujitsu, Nokia will provide O-RAN-compliant technology designed to modernise Telekom’s network.
“This deal is further evidence of our significant commitment to multi-vendor Open RAN and ensuring we have greater supplier choice for radio access networks,” said Abdu Mudesir, Group CTO and Managing Director of Technology Germany at Deutsche Telekom in a press release. “The network performance in the already implemented area is delivering the best customer experience. And now together with Nokia, we look forward to scaling up Open RAN in Germany.”.
This deal comes amid broader efforts by European telecom operators to reduce their reliance on Huawei, which has historically been a dominant supplier of equipment in the region.
Huawei’s presence in Europe has faced increasing scrutiny over security concerns raised by the US and several European governments. While the EU itself has not specifically lobbied against the use of Huawei equipment, it has introduced more stringent security guidelines for network equipment and encouraged telecom operators to diversify their supplier base.
As such, only a small number of countries – such as the UK and Sweden – have banned the use of Huawei equipment in national networks outright. Instead, most governments have taken a lighter approach, with many only mandating that Huawei equipment be removed from the most sensitive parts of telecoms networks.
This is the case for Germany, which has been particularly cautious in mandating operators to phase out Huawei equipment. After years of indecision, it was only this summer – almost five years since the 5G security debate began – that Germany ordered the removal of Huawei equipment from the core of the network by the end of 2026. By the end of 2029, the wider network components from these manufacturers in 5G access and transport networks must be replaced.
“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,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. “We must reduce security risks and, unlike in the past, avoid one-sided dependencies”
In anticipation of rules such as this, Deutsche Telekom, one of Huawei’s largest European customers, has been gradually shifting toward a more diverse vendor mix for a number of years. The partnership with Nokia represents another significant step in this direction, with Deutsche Telekom moving to better align with European Union objectives of reducing dependency on high-risk vendors and fostering a competitive, secure telecom ecosystem.
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