Telecom operators as well as IT companies have urged the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to carefully scrutinise China-based Huawei’s proposal to overhaul existing internet protocol (IP) and systems governing internet operations in India.
To this end, Broadband India Forum (BIF), has written to the DoT, requesting it to examine all risks associated to data privacy and data security, regulatory concerns, cost implications and internet infrastructure governance issues before taking a firm decision on Huawei’s proposal. In its letter, BIF highlighted that the existing IP framework is still working and there are no credible reasons to believe that they will not continue to adapt to future needs.
Meanwhile, IT companies, have also urged the government for an extension from the ITU to assess all regulatory concerns that could be triggered by Huawei’s proposal, especially around net neutrality, law enforcement and data privacy. In addition, the companies have urged DoT to examine if embracing a new internet operations framework would undermine innovation, drive-up internet usage costs for end-users and restrict internet access.
Recently, DoT had sought industry views on a year-old Huawei proposal made in the International Telecom Union (ITU), calling on nations, including India.
