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    India should consider local manufacturing of telecom equipment: Country’s top cybersecurity official

    Synopsis

    “We should give a licence fee to them (Huawei), and ensure that hardware and software would remain ours, and that's the best option,” National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) chief Lt Gen Rajesh Pant told ET. He said a multivendor approach was also one of the alternatives to thwart backdoor apprehensions.

    Huawei_afpAFP
    The Chinese company has offered to provide a source code to the Indian government, too. Its offer had come amid intense lobbying by the US against Huawei worldwide, including in India, citing what it sees as security concerns over the company’s equipment.
    NEW DELHI: India should consider localised manufacturing of telecom equipment by providing a licence fee to China’s Huawei Technologies for 5G technology patents, the country's top cybersecurity official said.

    “We should give a licence fee to them (Huawei), and ensure that hardware and software would remain ours, and that's the best option,” National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) chief Lt Gen Rajesh Pant told ET. He said a multi-vendor approach was also one of the alternatives to thwart backdoor apprehensions.

    Pant took over from India’s first cybersecurity chief Gulshan Rai in April last year.

    Shenzhen-based Huawei's founder and chief executive, Ren Zhengfei, in September 2019 said the company was willing to licence 5G technology exclusively to a US firm to create a level playing field for rivals, and to allay security-related apprehensions.

    The Chinese company has offered to provide a source code to the Indian government too. Its offer had come amid intense lobbying by the US against Huawei worldwide, including in India, citing what it sees as security concerns over its equipment.

    “We have to see our environment and national security interest, and options such as Make in India,” Pant said, acknowledging that the Chinese company had the highest number of 5G patents.

    Huawei competes with Sweden’s Ericsson, Nokia of Finland and Chinese ZTE for the telecom equipment market. Other players are Samsung and Cisco.

    In December last year, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had allowed the participation of Chinese equipment makers Huawei and ZTE for 5G field trials. But DoT would separately consider a go-ahead for commercial deployments.

    “We can’t give telecom networks to a single vendor,” Pant said, referring to calls for barring Huawei.

    Huawei did not respond to an email seeking comment till press time Wednesday.

    Pant said the UK, having a source code, charts a different approach towards Huawei, and way back in 2010 established the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC).

    In January this year, the UK allowed Huawei a limited role in building the country’s 5G network, despite intense pressure from the US.

    Following the UK, the European Union too issued a security framework for deploying 5G networks, without blocking Huawei.

    With India’s entry into the next-generation of network around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is also coming up with a national cybersecurity strategy this year to strengthen telecom networks.


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