The Indian government said it will use these trials to understand Huawei’s architecture

India’s Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the Indian government has allowed Chinese vendor Huawei to carry out trials for 5G connectivity as of now, Indian press reported.

Sundarajan said that the government would put the necessary safeguards in place before allowing companies to deploy 5G technology and access the core networks. “We have asked … or rather Huawei has applied to us for participating in the trials, that is different from deployment,” she said.

The secretary said that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) aims to utilize the opportunity to understand Huawei’s architecture and to what extent it would comply with core telecom networks in the country.

“We will be putting in place necessary safeguards. We will be putting in place all necessary safeguards before allowing any access to the core networks,” she added.

Last week, the government of India confirmed that it is not currently studying any proposal to ban telecom gear and equipment made by Chinese vendor Huawei, Indian press reported.

“At present, there is no proposal before the government considering banning telecom gear and equipment made by Huawei,” said Manoj Sinha, telecom minister.

A number of countries including the U.S., Japan, Canada, the U.K., Germany, Australia and New Zealand have already taken certain steps to block or limit purchases of network equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE, over security allegations.

Last month, India’s telecom export body TEPC requested that national security advisor Ajit Doval move to ban the purchase of equipment from Chinese companies like Huawei, ZTE and Fiberhome for government networks, claiming that they can pose a serious national security threat. TEPC has been set up by the government to promote telecom exports from India.

But Sinha said that domestic telecom operators are free to procure equipment from any vendor based on their technology and commercial interests.

Last month, Huawei confirmed that it had been invited by the Indian government to conduct 5G trials in the country, which are scheduled to start this year. The Indian government initially did not invite Huawei to take part in the 5G trials but then formally invited Huawei, by request of the company.

Telecom equipment suppliers Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung will also be taking part in India’s 5G trials. Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE has previously said that it is already working with Indian carriers to provide end-to-end solutions for the future launch of 5G technologies. ZTE said that leading Indian operators have already started 5G tests and verification with its products.