The DoT is searching for particulars about Chinese language-made gear nonetheless energetic in native telecoms networks
In sum – what you have to know:
DoT targets Chinese language gear – India’s Division of Telecoms has instructed operators to reveal their Chinese language-made tools, amid issues over nationwide safety dangers.
Huawei and ZTE bans – the Chinese language duo have been excluded from new offers in India since 2021, however their tools remains to be utilized by Airtel, Vodafone Concept, and BSNL.
Fast enlargement – 5G protection is rising quickly in India, with 469,000 base stations and over 250 million energetic subscribers, as operator trio lead the rollout throughout main cities.
India’s Division of Telecommunications (DoT) has reportedly instrucuted home telecom operators to submit particulars about Chinese language-made tools nonetheless energetic of their telecommunications networks, in keeping with a report from ETTelecom.
The report famous that the transfer is a part of the federal government’s broader effort to watch Chinese language involvement in India’s telecom sector and mitigate potential nationwide safety dangers arising from community vulnerabilities.
Chinese language distributors Huawei and ZTE have been largely excluded from new telecom contracts in India since 2021, following rising border tensions between the 2 nations. That yr, India’s Nationwide Safety Council Secretariat ordered that solely distributors licensed as “trusted sources” could be eligible for brand spanking new telecom deployments within the nation. Distributors like Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung have been permitted, whereas Huawei and ZTE haven’t obtained certification, the experiences added.
Regardless of the continued restrictions, native carriers nonetheless have gear from Huawei and ZTE of their networks, significantly in Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Concept’s 4G infrastructure and BSNL’s 2G community. The carriers are nonetheless allowed to service current tools, together with substitute and upgrades.
This newest request from the DoT comes amid escalating U.S.-China commerce tensions. Final week, President Donald Trump elevated tariffs on Chinese language imports to 145%, with a short lived 30-day exemption for some electronics. In response, China imposed its personal retaliatory tariffs, now reaching 124%.
India’s Commerce and Business Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal, lately criticized China’s commerce practices, together with alleged product dumping. In the meantime, India has additionally been affected by the U.S. tariff hikes. Earlier this month, Trump raised tariffs on Indian imports to 26%, although a short lived 90-day pause was granted to sure international locations, together with India.
India had 469,000 5G base stations on the finish of February, in keeping with the most recent out there figures from the nation’s Ministry of Communications. The ministry mentioned the variety of energetic 5G subscribers within the nation surpassed 250 million within the interval – in lower than two and a half years since 5G was commercially launched.
It mentioned 5G protection now extends to all states and 99.6% of districts nationwide.
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have began their 5G rollouts in October 2022. At present, each Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm supply 5G networks in all main cities throughout the nation. Whereas Jio is providing standalone 5G (5G SA) know-how, Airtel has to this point opted for non-standalone 5G (5G NSA).
Jio ended 2024 with 170 million 5G customers, marking a 15 p.c annual enhance and representing 35 p.c of its cellular buyer base. In the meantime, Airtel’s 5G subscriber depend reached 120 million.
Vodafone Concept lately joined them, launching its 5G service in Mumbai with plans to launch in new telecom circles quickly. Vodafone Concept plans to deploy 10,000 5G websites throughout 17 service areas within the present fiscal yr -ending March 31, and an extra 12,000 in fiscal 2026.
The provider had been finishing up 5G trials in varied telecom circles throughout the nation. As a part of its revival plan, Vodafone Concept had lately raised recent funds to enhance 4G protection and roll out 5G to stop additional subscriber losses.
Additionally, state-run telecom operator BSNL beforehand confirmed it has obtained curiosity from three corporations for deploying its 5G Standalone (SA) community in Delhi, protecting 1,876 websites throughout the nationwide capital.
BSNL first introduced the tender in November 2024 to kickstart 5G operations in Delhi.