The ban on Huawei technology discussed by the federal government could cost Deutsche Bahn dearly. Deutsche Bahn would have to invest up to 400 million euros to replace the infrastructure.
An impending ban on technology from the Chinese network supplier Huawei for security reasons would pose major problems for Deutsche Bahn.
It would cost up to 400 million euros if Deutsche Bahn had to replace its entire Huawei IT infrastructure, reports “Der Spiegel” with reference to internal company documents. This applies to train radio, for example.
time delays feared for important projects
In addition to the financial burden, Deutsche Bahn is also threatened with significant time delays. In the case of a short-term exchange, Deutsche Bahn projects would face “a delay of five to six years”, according to the paper.
In northern Germany alone, almost 800 base stations for the so-called train radio would have to be replaced. This network ensures communication between the train crew and the control center. Deutsche Bahn has been using Chinese components there since 2015.
The consequences would also be serious for the group’s internal IT infrastructure. This would affect large parts of the core network. A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn declined to comment.
Deutsche Bahn particularly affected
Out of concern about espionage from China, politicians from the SPD, Greens and FDP are discussing a ban on Huawei technology. As early as June, the EU Commission asked its member states to better protect their 5G mobile networks from providers they considered to be risky.
While the EU has already managed to reduce dependencies in other sectors, such as the energy sector, in record time, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton stressed: “It should be no different with 5G. We cannot afford to maintain critical dependencies that lead to become a ‘weapon’ against our interests.”
The discussion is particularly explosive for Deutsche Bahn because it was only in December 2022 that it awarded a large part of the expansion of its digital infrastructure for 64 million euros to a Telekom subsidiary that uses Huawei components.