PMO's call on equipment security issue
13-08-2010
"Procedures can be aligned with best global practice"
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the communications and home ministries to review the strict new security standards that are being labelled "too tough" by foreign telecom equipment makers.
Western vendors and business lobbies in the US, Europe and Japan are pressuring India to overturn the new rules that make it necessary for foreign equipment companies to put their software in the equivalent of a sealed envelope to be opened by Indian authorities only in the event of a security-threat situation.
Both ministries have two months to decide on whether a revised code of standards more aligned to procedures being followed globally ("international best practice") is needed.
"Some alternative mechanism in resolution to these issues needs to be put in place. This may kindly be concluded within a period of two months" the PMO communication, dated August 6, reads.
So far, only Chinese telecom gear vendors have offered to comply with India's new norms unveiled in July-end. Western vendors had raised strong objections and American business lobbies had enlisted the intervention of top Obama administration officials, including secretary of state Hillary Clinton, to challenge the new rules.
Some 20 trade groups from the US and Europe had written identical letters to home minister P Chidambaram, telecom minister A Raja, commerce minister Anand Sharma and the Prime Minister's Office complaining that the new security norms are not consistent with global practices and that they have not been consulted during their formulation. Even Indian industry body FICCI had asked the PMO to defer implementing the clause in the new rules that requires sharing of source code.
The rules set by India's security establishment also require vendors to employ only Indian nationals as engineers in the country. The norms also stipulate penalties of 100% of the contract value on mobile operators if any spyware or malware is found in their imported equipment.
In the 2-month interim period, the PMO has asked telecom ministry to allow mobile phone companies and vendors to follow either the recently introduced norms or the security guidelines issued last year.
The rules issued last year do not mandate vendors to share their source codes in an escrow account in India. Instead, it allows mobile phone companies here to import networks and other related equipment after giving a self-certification of security compliance.
But several industry executives and mobile phone companies point out that the government had not cleared any imports from Chinese vendors under the old norms. In fact, the telecom ministry had even imposed an informal temporary ban on 26 companies, including top Chinese OEMs such as Lenovo, Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp, Sunsea Telecom, UT Starcom, Tongyu Communications, Wuhan Fibrehome International, Shenzhen Grentech, Maipu Communications and a solitary Israeli telecom gearmaker, Comverse from supplying mobile gear in India. Since February 2010, about 450 orders worth over $2 billion placed by Indian mobile phone operators with these 26 companies have not been cleared.
It is also leant that mobile phone companies here such as Reliance Communications and Tatas fear that going back to the old norms will delay their expansion and rollout, especially that of 3G services, as equipment from Chinese vendors may not be cleared.
Based on story in Economic Times
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the communications and home ministries to review the strict new security standards that are being labelled "too tough" by foreign telecom equipment makers.
Western vendors and business lobbies in the US, Europe and Japan are pressuring India to overturn the new rules that make it necessary for foreign equipment companies to put their software in the equivalent of a sealed envelope to be opened by Indian authorities only in the event of a security-threat situation.
Both ministries have two months to decide on whether a revised code of standards more aligned to procedures being followed globally ("international best practice") is needed.
"Some alternative mechanism in resolution to these issues needs to be put in place. This may kindly be concluded within a period of two months" the PMO communication, dated August 6, reads.
So far, only Chinese telecom gear vendors have offered to comply with India's new norms unveiled in July-end. Western vendors had raised strong objections and American business lobbies had enlisted the intervention of top Obama administration officials, including secretary of state Hillary Clinton, to challenge the new rules.
Some 20 trade groups from the US and Europe had written identical letters to home minister P Chidambaram, telecom minister A Raja, commerce minister Anand Sharma and the Prime Minister's Office complaining that the new security norms are not consistent with global practices and that they have not been consulted during their formulation. Even Indian industry body FICCI had asked the PMO to defer implementing the clause in the new rules that requires sharing of source code.
The rules set by India's security establishment also require vendors to employ only Indian nationals as engineers in the country. The norms also stipulate penalties of 100% of the contract value on mobile operators if any spyware or malware is found in their imported equipment.
In the 2-month interim period, the PMO has asked telecom ministry to allow mobile phone companies and vendors to follow either the recently introduced norms or the security guidelines issued last year.
The rules issued last year do not mandate vendors to share their source codes in an escrow account in India. Instead, it allows mobile phone companies here to import networks and other related equipment after giving a self-certification of security compliance.
But several industry executives and mobile phone companies point out that the government had not cleared any imports from Chinese vendors under the old norms. In fact, the telecom ministry had even imposed an informal temporary ban on 26 companies, including top Chinese OEMs such as Lenovo, Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corp, Sunsea Telecom, UT Starcom, Tongyu Communications, Wuhan Fibrehome International, Shenzhen Grentech, Maipu Communications and a solitary Israeli telecom gearmaker, Comverse from supplying mobile gear in India. Since February 2010, about 450 orders worth over $2 billion placed by Indian mobile phone operators with these 26 companies have not been cleared.
It is also leant that mobile phone companies here such as Reliance Communications and Tatas fear that going back to the old norms will delay their expansion and rollout, especially that of 3G services, as equipment from Chinese vendors may not be cleared.
Based on story in Economic Times
