NEW DELHI: European telecom vendors Ericsson and Nokia along with US-based Cisco and home-bred Tejas are among the first set of telecom equipment vendors to have received trusted sources approval from the National Cyber Security coordinator (NCSC) even as China’s Huawei and ZTE are yet to complete the documentation process to be eligible for the approval.Tejas Networks, which was recently acquired by Tata Sons’ Panatone Finvest, is the only domestic telecom equipment vendor to have received the approval.
Industrial IoT solutions provider Proscend, France-based identity-related security services provider IDEMIA, PC Solutions and Dori Software have also received trusted sources approval from the designated authority, the NSCS.
However, telecom operators in the country still can’t place purchase orders with these vendors as the approval for “trusted product” for telecom equipment is still to be given by the NCSC.
“This is a first step in the process but for now it doesn’t mean much since companies with trusted sources approval can still get their equipment rejected if the authority is unsatisfied,” a person familiar with the process told ET. “The first list of trusted products is expected between November-end and mid-December period.”
The National Cyber Security coordinator Lt General (retd) Rajesh Pant confirmed the development to ET and said that the National Security Committee on Telecom meets on a monthly basis and decides on the grant of Trusted Sources and Trusted Products.
“Details of these are intimated to the telcos who had submitted their requirements on the portal. This process has commenced with effect from October 21 and the system is working as desired by the Cabinet decision,” he added.
Another source said that Chinese equipment vendor Huawei is in the process of meeting obligations under the process to get the trusted sources approval. “Huawei has still not completed the documentation process,” he added.
ZTE, on the other hand, is awaiting approval from the authority.
Queries sent to Ericsson, Nokia, Tejas, Cisco, Huawei and ZTE didn’t elicit any response.
Both Huawei and ZTE are seeking the approval under the IRE or Indian Registered Entity category. However, multinational companies with local manufacturing either directly or through EMS partners will be considered for approval under the Indian Registered or IR category similar to domestic vendors.
Both Ericsson and Nokia have local production facilities in the country. While Nokia manufactures equipment on its own through the Chennai factory, Ericsson gets its equipment manufactured in Pune through Jabil.
Pant had previously told ET that Huawei and ZTE were not barred from participating in the process to identify trusted sources and products for deployments but will need to go through the process of scrutiny like others,
A senior executive working with an European vendor said that there are chances that if any product or component is manufactured in China they the approval may not be given and this may also apply on non-Chinese vendors. “There is no clarity yet on the origin of the component yet. A large part of the global supply chain is in China and you can’t simply shift that to India overnight. So, we are waiting and watching,” he added.
Indian telecom operators had previously raised concerns regarding network roll out delays due to the process. However, the designated authority has provided them with the option of taking an exemption for immediate roll out needs. Vodafone Idea, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel were given a one-time exemption by the NCSC recently for crucial roll outs in the country.
