India-Pakistan tension: Telcos bracing to intercept calls if needed

Phone companies are bracing to comply with possible requests from the government to intercept suspect calls and even monitor international long-distance (ILD) traffic on select routes with the Indian military sounding a high alert in the northern and northwestern states near the India-Pakistan border.

Telcos are also readying to step up their periodic network security drills, in the event border tensions escalate, although they are yet to receive any specific signals from the government.

Rajan Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm, told ET that if the armed forces or government agencies require assistance from telecom service providers (TSPs), they would “be highly confidential and known only to the designated nodal officer in each TSP.