As per industry sources, the government has launched an online portal for telecos and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to procure gear from “trusted sources” as identified by the National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCSC).
The beta portal is currently accessible to only a few telcos and OEMs.
Earlier, the NCSC had said that it will launch the beta portal on April 15, 2021, and will notify the categories of gear for which the security code related to trusted sources is applicable.
The online portal will also enable prospective gear makers to track the progress of approval of their applications.
Earlier this month, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had directed telcos to designate a nodal officer for providing information regarding their network to the national cybersecurity coordinator, whenever sought. As per the new mandate, all telecom operators will have to submit details regarding their networks which will include core equipment, access equipment, transport equipment, and support systems to the NCSC.
In addition to gear makers, India will also scrutinize chipmakers such as Intel Inc., Qualcomm Technologies, MediaTek, among others for inclusion in the list of trusted sources.
