Foreign telecom equipment for critical networks to be banned

Among the projects identified for complete domestic sourcing are the national optic fibre network,network for spectrum and other defence communication networks,national knowledge network and all communication projects of all utility companies such as the Indian Railways,and oil,gas and power companies.

“Since most of the products are already available in the country or can be developed in the required timelines,it must be ensured that 100 per cent of the requirement of critical equipment for such projects should be domestically manufactured at the earliest,” the panel recommends.

However,to ensure that the preferential access to domestic firms does not violate WTO provisions,the notification—yet to be issued by the Telecom Ministry—specifies that preferential treatment would be given only for projects that have “security implications for the country” and in government purchases “for own use and not with a view to commercial resale or with a view to use in the production of commercial goods for resale”.

The panel’s comment shows the continued government skepticism on Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE that dominate India’s telecom sector. Law enforcement agencies have been warning about the rampant use of sophisticated equipment that could compromise the country’s security as the Chinese firms do not share technical information and ‘system keys’ of their products with Indian operators. For this,too,the committee suggests that the source code/IPR,knowhow and know-why of all products should be in India and be available to any government agency at any time. “This is to ensure security as well as long-term support,maintenance and future upgrades,” it adds.

“Further,to ensure assured supplies at all times,the entire design,source code and manufacturing should be in India. Also,the product should not be subject to export control laws of any foreign country,” says the report.

The reason for the panel’s concern is that critical projects require a secure backbone network that must be fully trusted at all times. The panel’s fear is that as use of telecom and information and communications technology becomes all pervasive,the ability to use these devices and applications to disrupt normal human life and threaten life and property by “an inimical interest” becomes increasingly common.

The existing preferential access policy mandates that both state-owned and private phone – mobile and landline – companies buy up to 30 per cent of network equipment and other related infrastructure from domestic manufacturers. The new policy wants these licensees to scale this up to “a minimum of 80 per cent” by 2020.