Government seeks to firewall telecom infrastructure from Chinese threat

NEW DELHI: In a move that will restrict the business of top Chinese vendors such as Huawei and ZTE in India’s 4G telecom expansion and the upcoming 5G, the government on Wednesday took decisive steps towards securing the mobile eco-system by making amendments to the license rules, mandating that post-June 15, the equipment can be procured only from ‘trusted’ sources that have been approved by a Designated Authority.

The move comes amidst growing concerns in the government over “meddling by Chinese elements” into India’s critical infrastructure.

“The current amendments have been necessitated by the need to secure the vital and burgeoning Indian telecom space from untrusted vendors and unwanted elements,” top officials told TOI, requesting anonymity.