India Sets Guidelines For Import Of Telecom Equipment.

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--India has made disclosure of design details and certain technical data compulsory for import of telecommunication equipment, as it tries to address the concerns of security agencies while also helping service providers to go ahead with their expansion plans.

The guidelines, introduced as part of the new telecom licensing rules and put up on the Department of Telecommunications website, asked service providers importing equipments to disclose the source code, or computer programs used in such equipment, along with design details. They also ask them to employ only a minimum number of foreign engineers to manage networks.

The move is likely to help telecom service providers looking to expand their network, especially after the recent allocation of bandwidth to offer third-generation mobile telephony services.

Though there has been no formal ban on telecom equipment imports, some operators had said earlier that their expansion plans were hit because of authorities rejecting import proposals, especially of equipment from China, over security fears. The companies prefer buying equipment from Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. (000063.SZ) as their products are almost a third cheaper than those of Western makers.

The department said under the new rules, it could analyze the technical information to look for security hazards such as malware.

If any security breach is detected after the deployment of the equipment, the equipment must be taken out of service. In such cases, the department could impose a penalty of INR500 million per purchase order and 100% of the contract value on telecom service providers, it said.

The department may also blacklist the equipment vendor, it added.

The department said it would work toward forming a Telecom Security Council of India to help increase security assurance levels. The council would be jointly funded by the government and the telecom industry, it added.

Source : online.wsj.com