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New security norms worry telecom gear vendors
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Evaluating India biz options; mobile network expansion may be hit.
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Thomas K. Thomas
New Delhi, July 29
Expansion plans of mobile operators could slow down considerably with telecom equipment suppliers raising concerns about the security linked norms announced by the Government on Wednesday.
American and European
gear manufacturers, including
Ericsson, Motorola and
Nokia Siemens, are evaluating
whether they can agree to
the stiff conditions set by the
Government or refuse to do
business under these terms.
Mr P. Balaji, Vice-President,
Ericsson India said,
"While we respect national
security and support the Government
in its efforts to secure
telecom networks, it has
to be done in accordance
with international best
practices."
One of the main issues
troubling the vendors is the
order by the Government
asking them to give their
source codes. "Handing over
source codes is like giving
away our intellectual property
rights. No where in the
world have we given our
source codes," said another
European vendor.
PENALTY
Equipment vendors are also
worried about having to bear
the penalty to the tune of the
deal amount in case a spyware
is found on the operator's
network. "It is unfair to
impose penalty as spyware
malware can creep in any
time into the network.
Hence, practically it is not
possible to pin point any liability,"
said a presentation by
the American Chamber of
Commerce in India.
As much as 80 per cent of
the current telecom equipment
requirements are being
supplied by these companies
and if they do not agree to
sign on the dotted line, then
mobile operators will have no
option but to buy from the
Chinese, which is what the
Government had initially
wanted to restrict.
But even the Chinese are
not entirely happy with the
situation. Mr D.K. Ghosh,
Chairman and Managing Director,
ZTE India, said,
"There are one or two issues
that are difficult and we are
looking at how we can meet
these requirements." He,
however, added that if the
Union Government insists on
these conditions, then ZTE
will have to comply.
Mobile operators said their
costs would go up as a result
of the new norms. Mr Rajan
Mathew, Director-General,
COAI, said, "Mobile operators
will have to bear a cost
of nearly $100 million to implement
some of the
conditions."
Related Stories:
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Indian telecom gear manufacturers, operators divided over mandatory purchase norm
RCom seeks nod to import Chinese telecom gear
Tata Tele seeks DoT nod to buy CDMA gear from Chinese vendors
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