DoT issues tough new norms for imported telecom equipment

The government on Wednesday laid down stringent security norms for imported telecom equipment, saying that telecom equipment vendors must allow inspection of their gear and making carriers solely responsible for the security of their networks.

The new rules will be incorporated into the licence agreements of all telecom companies with immediate effect.

Since 10 February, the government has refused to clear over 450 equipment orders worth close to $3 billion placed with Chinese vendors, mainly Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp citing security concerns, thus slowing down the expansion plans of all operators.

The new norms will enable telecom companies to place orders for 3G networks following the recent allocation of 3G bandwidth to successful bidders via an auction process.
 
Intelligence agencies suspect that foreign equipment, mainly imported from China and some from Israel, can have secret interfaces or 'backdoors' that allow them to be monitored and even controlled from a remote location outside the country. Systems such as firewalls often prove ineffective against such embedded bugs.

Carriers in the world's fastest-growing cellular market must now have their equipment certified by an approved international audit agency, the Department of Telecommunications said in a note posted on its website late on Wednesday.

If a breach is found, carriers face penalties of Rs5,000 crore per order and 100-per cent of the contract value, while a vendor could be barred from supplying Indian operators.