All telecom equipment must be tested in India from next year

In a step aimed at checking cyber attacks and spying, the Government is planning to make it mandatory for all telecom equipment to be tested in India from next year.

So far, telecom operators had to comply with five basic conditions, which include equipment induction after testing from any laboratory including those located overseas.

The new measures are taking shape at a time when Chinese content in Indian telecom networks is growing, said a government source. In the past two years, Chinese equipment accounted for 60 per cent of total telecom equipment imports and their percentage is now just over 50 per cent. The government had in the past turned down the procurement of Chinese equipment on the suspicion that it contained a back-window for transmitting information.