Security clearance must for foreign telecom equipment

 The Department of Telecom (DoT) in its direction to the companies has also made it mandatory for equipment vendors to transfer technology to Indian manufacturers within three years of selling machines to any operator.

 Earlier only state-run telecom companies — BSNL and MTNL — had to get clearance, while private operators were doing their own due diligence while ordering equipment from vendors for expanding their network or rolling out services.
 However, Indian intelligence agencies have urged the DoT to make security clearances mandatory even for private telecom companies for equipment purchased from foreign vendors. 

Expressing concern over many Indian telecom companies procuring large-scale materials from Chinese companies, security agencies warned that it could bring threat to country's security as foreign companies can install spyware enabling other countries to snoop into Indian networks.

"With as many as 20 states in the country sharing international boundaries, intelligence agencies wanted foreign companies’ equipment to be installed only after their approval," a senior DoT official told Deccan Herald.  

"The service provider must include a clause in their purchase order to foreign manufacturer(s) for transfer of technology of all critical components and software to Indian manufacturers within a period of three years from the date of purchase order," he said.

 Operators will now have to wait for 30 days to get clearance before purchasing equipment. However, the equipment and software manufactured by Indian companies are exempted from such a necessity.

Equipment vendors must transfer technology to Indian manufacturers as it is one of the effective measures to reduce vulnerability in the long run. In case of non-compliance, both vendor and the service provider would be penalised.  "Criminal proceedings would also be started in this case," said the direction.

 The key directive is that service providers must ensure that their networks are entirely operated and maintained by Indian engineers, with minimal or nil dependence on foreign engineers, the official said.

Several members of Parliament had recently expressed their concern over Chinese companies’ active role in the Indian telecom sector as they cautioned the government that these foreign companies may disrupt the Indian security system by jamming networks through spy software.

Chinese companies have dismissed these allegations saying that these charges were made by Western telecom companies because of business rivalry.