In an unprecedented move, Govt of India is about to ban all Chinese telecom equipments in India, and stop their usage across all telecom service providers.
If this happens, which is very likely to, India’s 5G rollout can be delayed further, and this is not a good news for the telecom industry.
Find out why?
India Can Ban All Chinese Telecom Equipments
For the first time in India, Govt will issue a strict National Security Directive, which will guide and monitor the purchase and installation of all telecom gears, across India.
This will be finalized by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), and the directives will have rules, regulations and protocols about the companies which can sell such high-end communication gears to the telecom firms.
In case any company or equipment is blacklisted in this directive, they cant enter India.
National Cyber Security Coordinator will enlist the trusted sources and products which can be used by telecom firms, and if Chinese companies are not present in this list, then they won’t be allowed in India.
Based on the tension between India and China, it is highly likely that Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE will be banned from this list, and thus, their telecom gears won’t be ever used in India for 5G or 4G or any network.
Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “The methodology to designate trusted products will be devised by the designated authority, the National Cyber Security Coordinator. Telecom service providers (mobile operators) are required to connect new devices that are designated trusted products,”
Why This Is A Bad News For 5G?
The biggest advantage which Chinese vendors bring to the table is cost effectiveness.
The telecom gears supplied by companies like Huawei and ZTE and others are a lot cheaper, compared to Indian, European and American vendors, and this changes the rules of the telecom business.
Recently, BSNL officials informed that Indian vendors are charging as much as 89% more, compared to Chinese companies for the same telecom equipments.
Now, once this National Security Directive is finalized and telecom firms are forced to stop using Chinese telecom gears, it will become tough for Indian telcos like Airtel, Jio and Vi to expand their 5G network.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in.
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