Due to security concerns, the Indian government has banned telecom operators from buying Chinese-made equipment, including Huawei and ZTE.
The ban order follows concerns raised by the Indian Home Ministry that telecom equipment from “certain” countries could contain spyware or malware. Similarly, the Government had earlier banned import of Chinese handsets without IMEI number.
“Proposals for procurement of equipment from Chinese original equipment manufacturing vendors have not been recommended due to security concerns,” the Department of Telecommunications(DoT) wrote this week in correspondence to the prime minister’s Office. “Therefore, the proposals from the service providers for purchase of Chinese equipment is turned down.” reported Financial Times.
The move was expected as the Indian Government had been “informally” telling the mobile operators to stay away from the Chinese telecom vendors.
Both ZTE and Huawei have major businesses in the fast-growing India market.
The ban would likely benefit European and American vendors that have been losing market share to aggressive Chinese equipment-makers with attractive financing schemes.
