“New technology should reduce dependence on Huawei!” The German Handelsblatt stated on the 6th that a secret German government document showed that the German government plans to spend 2 billion euros from the new crown recovery plan to develop new communication technologies. The newspaper said that this will reduce the technology dependence on the currently dominant Chinese technology giant Huawei.
The document stated that “the prosperity and competitiveness of Germany and Europe will increasingly depend on mastering new communication technologies”, and therefore “there is a need to formulate a common strategy at the national and EU levels”. To this end, Germany plans to invest more than 300 million euros in Open RAN technology, nearly 250 million euros to establish a 6G research center, and 250 million euros to expand 5G networks.
German media said that the German government hopes to give priority to Open RAN technology in its new communications investment plan. This technology allows European telecom operators to use the products of multiple suppliers in the same base station by opening the technical interfaces between RAN components provided by different telecom equipment suppliers, thereby reducing their dependence on a single equipment supplier. According to reports, this means that Huawei’s technology may withdraw from the European 5G network. In order to find a substitute for Huawei’s 5G technology, the United States, Britain, Japan and other countries have begun to promote Open RAN technology. However, some experts warned that this technology is still immature, and time can only play the role of traditional technology.
The Handelsblatt also stated that in order to strengthen Europe’s dominance in future communication technology, the four major European telecommunications companies-Deutsche Telekom, French Orange, British Vodafone and Telefónica have planned to join forces. Their goal is to promote the application of Open RAN technology and reduce dependence on Huawei technology. It is said that the German government will also support this project.
“Europe will invest tens of billions of euros in the chip industry”, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung also stated on the 6th that the aforementioned new communications technology plan will be implemented together with the EU’s new chip strategy. Germany, France, Italy and other countries have initiated initiatives to EU countries, hoping to invest 20 billion euros to 50 billion euros in Europe to develop the chip industry to counter the competition between the United States and Asia. This spring, Europe will establish a “chip alliance” composed of companies, institutions and national governments to pool investment and establish joint projects.
