Huawei given clearance to conduct equipment trials

DoT’s Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC) had granted certificates allowing Huawei Telecommunications India Pvt Ltd last month, to conduct testing of its gear, according to a report in Business Standard.

Sources said, that the Department of Telecom (DoT) by mistake allowed Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei to conduct trials for its gear at a time when the government issued a National Security Directive over procurement of equipment to be used in the telecom sector.

The DoT rushed to suspend the certificate at a time when the whole exercise of issuing National Security Directive for the secure it against potential threats from companies such as Huawei and ZTE which have alleged ties with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Huawei reportedly issued three ‘Mandatory Testing Certification of Telecommunication Equipment (MTCTE)’ dated November 4, 2020, for conducting the trial and testing, the report said.

“Huawei India received the certificates as part of MTCTE Phase-2 procedure. We will fully support the authorities and continue to comply with MTCTE or any other requirements as per the law of the land,” the company’s spokesperson told BS.

Huawei had even started shipping the equipment from the Chinese port but later had to stop it after the certificates were suspended. The government on Wednesday issued a National Security Directive to formulate procuring policies of equipment to be used in the telecom sector.