Govt To Blacklist Some Telecom Equipment Vendors As Part Of Plan To Strengthen National Security

Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the new directives will have a significant impact on the country’s security, IT, and telecommunications.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

New Delhi: The Central Government on Wednesday announced that it may blacklist certain telecom vendors and prepare a list of trusted providers from where one can buy equipment. The government, in its recent announcement, said that the new directives will have a significant impact on the country’s security, IT, and telecommunications.  Briefing reporters after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Law, Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said a National Security Directive on Telecommunication Sector has been framed keeping in mind the national security. "Considering the need to ensure India’s national security, the Cabinet has accorded approval for the national security directive on the telecommunication sector. Under this, in order to maintain the integrity of the supply chain security, the government will declare a list of trusted sources, trusted products for the benefit of telecom service providers, similarly there will be a list of designated sources from whom no procurement will be done," Prasad said. It is also being speculated that the move will also be a push to “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India), as telecom sector gears made by domestic players might be considered in the category of trusted sources. Further giving the details of how the listing will be done and how it would impact telecom service in the future, the minister said, "Once the lists are prepared, telecom service providers will be required to connect new devices which are designated trusted products." "The designated authority will make its determination based on the approval of a committee headed by the deputy NSA. The committee will consist of members from relevant departments, ministries, two members from industries, and an independent expert. The committee will be called the national security committee on telecom," the minister added. According to reports, annual maintenance contracts will not be affected and there is no provision for mandatory replacement of existing equipment inducted in the network of the service providers. The developments come when India has blocked lo of mobile applications, the majority of them being Chinese, as these apps pose a threat to the “sovereignty and integrity of India”. In June earlier this year, the blocked access to 59 mobile apps and on September 2, another 118 apps were banned under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and in November, another 43 43 Chinese mobile apps were banned. The list of banned apps includes popular gaming app PUBG, TikTok, UC Browser, Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat Reading, and Tencent Weiyun.