How Deutsche Telekom wanted to undermine the US government

Hamburg, Brussels, Washington The relationships between the Deutsche Telekom and the Chinese group Huawei may be narrower than known. According to Handelsblatt information, both companies concluded a pact in 2019 that could have circumvented US sanctions. The signed contract is available to the Handelsblatt.

The aim of the agreement was “to avoid a potential supply risk in relation to Huawei-Prevent the components from the products USA included,” the contract says. Important spare parts should be “stored and managed in Huawei’s European warehouses”, and individual Huawei devices should even be delivered to Telekom as a precaution.

Securing the relationship with the technology supplier may have made business sense for Telekom. It is politically explosive for the group, in which the federal government holds around 30 percent of the shares.