Deutsche Telekom dismissed a report stating it had deepened a 5G network supplier partnership with Huawei, insisting it had actually reduced its business with the Chinese vendor over the past three years.

In a blog post, Deutsche Telekom reiterated its “multi-vendor strategy”, which outlined its approach of buying equipment from a large number of manufacturers so it is not dependent on individual companies.

Deutsche Telekom’s statement was in reaction to an article by German newspaper Handelsblatt, which claimed the operator had ignored security warnings and moved to increase dependency on Huawei as a supplier for its 5G network, broadband, cloud services and television offering.

Citing confidential documents, Handelsblatt added Deutsche Telekom had agreed to rely on US-free network components for the 5G network, in line with recent tightened restrictions on Huawei.

However, Deutsche Telekom denied the report, pointing out it had actually cut down its business with Huawei since 2017.

“Deutsche Telekom has said on several occasions that we are moving out Chinese vendors in the mobile communications core network. Fact is that the sales of Deutsche Telekom with Huawei have been declining in the last three years,” it explained.

It added 30 per cent of its technology purchases are made with US manufacturers, 25 per cent from European and Chinese manufacturers, and the remainder from Asia and small local providers.

Germany has so far resisted pressure from the US to issue a ban on Huawei, or any overseas vendors.

However, Reuters reported the government plans to finalise component rules for 5G networks in September.