KOLKATA: India's local sourcing and testing rules aimed at tightening network security and spurring domestic telecom manufacturing have ruffled feathers in the US and Europe.
Barely hours after a powerful US trade body accused the country of encouraging protectionism in the telecom arena, theEuropean Union (EU) has questioned India's plans to locally screen network gear from July 1 despite it having been cleared in globally certified labs. Both say such a move to double test the same equipment will not just delay supply of critical products but also increase cost of telecom services, hurting consumers.
In a recent internal meeting, the EU said testing should be repeated only if a telecom product undergoes significant changes that impact its core safety properties.
It has demanded that India must also drop "the in-country security testing requirement", for those products not covered by Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA), a top industry executive aware of the discussions told ET. That is in addition to EU's opposition to India locally testing IT products which are already CCRA-approved.
The CCRA is the top global agency that defines testing rules to certify IT products used in telecom networks and counts the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France Japan and India as among its members.
In this light, EU has sought clarifications on whether India would allow certified labs in Europe to also test pure network gear not covered by CCRA. The opposition is especially since India is yet to develop a telecom gear testing ecosystem on a global scale. It has, in fact sought "an update on India's lab capacity to conduct local testing", another official familiar with the EU meeting said.
The EU's concerns stem from DoT's decision to locally screen all telecom network elements, including IT products used by telecom operators in India from July 1. More so, since DoT is yet to spell out the non-IT network devices that will be screened locally.
Mainline telecom equipment used in mobile networks includes base stations, mobile switching centres, network management & billing systems and transmission devices. But DoT also plans to locally test pure IT systems such as routers, switches and storage devices that go into modern mobile and broadband networks.
The EU has also exhorted "India to frame local testing norms aligned with prevailing global standards for 3G networks", the official quoted above added. Neither the EU nor theEuropean Commission replied to ET's email queries in this light.
The EU's views mirror concerns voiced by the Telecommunications Industry Association(TIA), a leading US trade body representing manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, which recently said India must not embrace telecom policies that "rely on protectionism".
"There is no evidence that location of an internationally accredited testing lab corresponds with the level of security assurance provided to it or the product itself," the TIA recently wrote in a letter to the US International Trade Commission.
"There are long-standing, internationally accredited labs conducting such testing and location does not have a bearing on the accuracy of the test as long as the lab has achieved appropriate certification," it added.
The TIA had also warned that India risked supply chain disruptions and increased costs for telecom service providers (TSPs) and their vendors as it currently lacked the requisite "lab testing capacity". It said the local testing deadline should be deferred, failing which, potential supply chain disruptions could hit consumer pricing.
In a recent internal meeting, the EU said testing should be repeated only if a telecom product undergoes significant changes that impact its core safety properties.
It has demanded that India must also drop "the in-country security testing requirement", for those products not covered by Common Criteria Recognition Arrangement (CCRA), a top industry executive aware of the discussions told ET. That is in addition to EU's opposition to India locally testing IT products which are already CCRA-approved.
The CCRA is the top global agency that defines testing rules to certify IT products used in telecom networks and counts the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France Japan and India as among its members.
In this light, EU has sought clarifications on whether India would allow certified labs in Europe to also test pure network gear not covered by CCRA. The opposition is especially since India is yet to develop a telecom gear testing ecosystem on a global scale. It has, in fact sought "an update on India's lab capacity to conduct local testing", another official familiar with the EU meeting said.
The EU's concerns stem from DoT's decision to locally screen all telecom network elements, including IT products used by telecom operators in India from July 1. More so, since DoT is yet to spell out the non-IT network devices that will be screened locally.
Mainline telecom equipment used in mobile networks includes base stations, mobile switching centres, network management & billing systems and transmission devices. But DoT also plans to locally test pure IT systems such as routers, switches and storage devices that go into modern mobile and broadband networks.
The EU has also exhorted "India to frame local testing norms aligned with prevailing global standards for 3G networks", the official quoted above added. Neither the EU nor theEuropean Commission replied to ET's email queries in this light.
The EU's views mirror concerns voiced by the Telecommunications Industry Association(TIA), a leading US trade body representing manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, which recently said India must not embrace telecom policies that "rely on protectionism".
"There is no evidence that location of an internationally accredited testing lab corresponds with the level of security assurance provided to it or the product itself," the TIA recently wrote in a letter to the US International Trade Commission.
"There are long-standing, internationally accredited labs conducting such testing and location does not have a bearing on the accuracy of the test as long as the lab has achieved appropriate certification," it added.
The TIA had also warned that India risked supply chain disruptions and increased costs for telecom service providers (TSPs) and their vendors as it currently lacked the requisite "lab testing capacity". It said the local testing deadline should be deferred, failing which, potential supply chain disruptions could hit consumer pricing.