Deutsche Telekom, Europe's largest telecoms operator, was in advanced talks to retain Huawei as its main supplier of radio equipment for new mobile networks, Reuters reported Friday citing sources familiar with the matter.
Deutsche Telekom said last week that it was not entering into 5G network equipment contracts as it awaited the resolution of a political debate in Berlin over whether to restrict Huawei's access to the German market.
Deutsche Telekom had held discussions with Huawei in Paris before that announcement and hammered out terms for a possible deal, said the sources, adding no contract was signed.
A Deutsche Telekom spokesman confirmed that no deal or arrangement had been reached about making Huawei its main supplier of 5G network equipment, the report said.
Whether to allow Huawei equipment to enter the German 5G market has become one of the hot topics in German politics and Germany's largest telecommunications operator Deutsche Telekom announced that it would replace all Huawei components with its core network within two years.
At the end of September this year, Huawei said that it had started producing 5G base stations without US parts. At present, Huawei has launched 5G cooperation with many countries, including the United Kingdom, Monaco, France, Malaysia, Russia, Cambodia and so on.
At present, Huawei's biggest competitor, Ericsson, has surpassed Huawei in 5G orders.
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