A new policy pertaining to the import of telecom gear is to be unveiled soon, according to news reports. It is believed that the new policy will do away with a clause that made it mandatory for foreign equipment manufacturers to put their software in the equivalent of a sealed envelope and submit it to the government.
Western gear makers said the rule violated international agreements on trade and intellectual property rights. However, Chinese vendors such as Huawei and ZTE, agreed to share their software, hoping to bridge the trust deficit that threatened their operations in the country.
Currently, vendors must either submit the source code or get a security clearance from the home ministry before supplying gear to mobile phone companies here. Under the revised norms, vendors can present a third party security clearance to the home ministry, speeding up approval process.
The new policy also dilutes the earlier rule that mandated vendors to employ only Indian engineers to maintain the networks of local mobile phone companies. The fresh norms say that only top personnel with vendors need to be Indians. The names of these individuals will have to be cleared by the telecom and home ministries prior to their appointment.
Another clause that stipulates penalties of 100 per cent of the contract value on vendors if any spyware or malware is found in imported equipment has also been dropped. Instead, the new policy says in the case of a security breach, the quantum of the penalty will be decided based on the nature of the breach.
