The head of Germany’s public safety radio network is excluding vendors from certain countries when it comes to active network components. It is essential to prevent information leaks or the disruption of supply chains during a crisis, Christoph Hübner told a specialist briefing organized by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung Dossier” information service. “In any case, the issue of digital sovereignty is of great importance. That rules out vendors from certain countries.”
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Furthermore, it must be ensured that there are no undetected backdoors in the networks, Hübner added. He is the president of the Federal Agency for Public Safety Digital Radio (BDBOS), which operates the highly secure digital radio network used by the police, fire departments, and other emergency services.
According to reports, Germany plans to switch its public safety radio communications to broadband in the coming years, enabling the future transmission of images, videos, and large volumes of data. During the rollout of the new system, the state will initially rely on the networks of Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Telefónica. However, Hübner noted that these private mobile networks are less secure than the existing radio network operated specifically for emergency services.
“It is clear that we are in a position of dependency here. However, one could also call it a partnership,” said Hübner. The agency intends to limit this dependency and operate its own state-controlled core network. The existing agency radio network is to be maintained as a fallback system until 2040.
Hübner also warned against becoming too heavily reliant on individual providers for satellite services. “Dependencies must be avoided at all costs,” he said in response to a question about the US service Starlink. “It must not lead to a situation where a ‘kill switch’ exists somewhere.”
Author: AFP – oer/awe – Translated by Blackout News
Sources: AFP Press Portal