Following the disclosure of security-related information by Huawei Technologies and ZTE, the Indian government has asked other global vendors such as Ericsson, NSN and Alcatel-Lucent to also submit similar details. They will need to provide details of their ownership and governance structures, supply chain information, security features, products standards as well as all government or third-party security audit tests that have been conducted on their networks and services. The decision, which is being opposed by the vendors, is likely to result in possible delays in the procurement of critical telecom equipment by the Indian operators. The government’s rationale behind imposing such a condition is to extend its security measures to all vendors instead of targeting only the Chinese companies. Besides, the bulk of the manufacturing capabilities of many Western manufacturers are based out of China.
