The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Tuesday wrote to Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, to ban Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE from participating in 5G network roll-out in the country.

It also urged that technology and equipments of both companies should be banned from use in 5G network rollout by any company (telecom operators).

“Considering various steps taken by the government in June, we believe that such measures will pave the way for an opportunity for Indian companies to create their own software and hardware required for 5G network and will result in arobust telecom infrastructure which will be beneficial for improving the country's exports and imports to a greater extent,” Praveen Khandelwal, National Secretary General, CAIT, said in the letter.

Both Huawei and ZTE have applied for participating in 5G network infrastructure to be rolled in the country soon.

“There is great apprehension that Huawei technology may provide an inner system to enable surveillance. There is a rapid distrust of China not only in India but across the globe and this has further increased by China's policy to control and dominate various sectors through its software and hardware system, the Covid pandemic, and recent events of a war -like situation in border areas,” he further wrote.

He said the attack in Gulwan, Ladakh highlights the need for a network system which is progressive and free from any kind of interception of data that may prove fatal for the security and sovereignty of the country.

“We express gratitude to the government for taking some of the crucial steps to cancel contracts with Chinese companies in various sectors, including railways, highways and metro projects. These steps have certainly been taken to respect the sentiments and emotions of the people of India as also debarring Chinese companies from spreading their dominance on several critical projects,” he added.

Apart from CAIT, other industry bodies such as the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India (TEMA) have also urged the Centre to use products made in India to provide telecom connectivity, especially to border and sensitive areas in the country.

Meanwhile, the IT Minister Prasad said that a tender for 354 uncovered villages in the strategic, remote and border areas of the country has been finalised and is under implementation in 144 villages of the the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh and remaining villages in the States of Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other priority areas of Gujarat.

These villages have been strategically chosen to cover border area connectivity on mobile.

Satellite-based Digital Satellite Phone Terminals (DSPTs) are also being provided at 1,347 sites for Army, BRO, BSF, CRPF, ITBP and SSB. Of this, 183 sites are already commissioned and remaining are in process.

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