The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued a proposal and put telecom operators Airtel and Vodafone Idea in tension. The Department of Telecommunications has sought information from these two companies about the 'non-trusted sources' used in the network. DoT has also sent several reminders to these two telecom companies for this, but till now these two companies have not provided this information.

Asked for this important information

The Department of Telecommunications has specifically sought details of equipment used by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in-network services from Airtel and Vodafone-Idea because both these companies have merged or acquired other companies, for which details of equipment from 'non-trusted sources' are not available. 

At the beginning of the year, DoT had issued instructions to telecom operators to find out how much of their network equipment was purchased from non-trusted sources like Huawei and ZTE. Telecom operators were also asked to send details of the software from such non-trusted sources. The purpose of this instruction of DoT was to know how much it would cost if they were purchased from trusted sources.

The question of national security

Keeping in mind the security and sovereignty of the country, the government does not want to use the equipment network of non-trusted sources i.e. Chinese companies. According to the report of Moneycontrol, a government official has said that the telecom operators have not yet submitted this report to the Department of Telecommunications. Reminders have been sent to them several times, but no reply has come yet.

Rip and replace program on the lines of America

This proposal by the Department of Telecommunications to telecom companies is similar to the 'Rip and Replace' program, which the US government has implemented keeping national security in mind. The government had provided financial assistance to telecom companies for this. In the US and the UK, emphasis has been laid on replacing equipment from non-trusted sources with equipment from trusted sources. The Department of Telecommunications wants to do the same in India, so that the private data of millions of telecom users in the country does not reach any non-trusted sources, especially Chinese companies.