The Department of Telecommunications in India has instructed operators to go ahead and disclose Chinese-made equipment because there are concerns over national security risks.
Both Huawei as well as ZTE, the Chinese duo is excluded from making new deals in India since 2021; however, their equipment is getting used by telecom majors, such as Vodafone Idea, Airtel, and BSNL.
It is well to be noted that 5G coverage happens to be growing in a very rapid way in India, with 469,000 base stations and more than 250 million active subscribers, as the operator trio leads their rollout throughout the major cities of the country.
In the latest move, the Department of Telecommunications – DoT in India has gone on to instruct the domestic telecom operators to go ahead and disclose Chinese-made equipment that is still being used within their telecom communications networks.
The report has noted that the move happens to be a part of the government of India’s broader initiative to track Chinese involvement when it comes to the telecom sector in India and decrease the potential national security risk that arises from these network susceptibilities.
Huawei as well as ZTE, the Chinese vendors, have been clearly chucked out from the new telecom contracts across India ever since 2021 due to the rising border issues between both the countries. The National Security Council Secretariat in India in 2021 ordered that only the vendors who happen to be certified as trusted sources will be eligible when it comes to new telecom deployment in the country. Vendors such as Ericsson, Nokia along with Samsung have gotten the approval, whereas Huawei and ZTE have not got the nod for any such certification as yet.
Despite of the current barriers, the local carriers are still making use of Huawei & ZTE gears in their networks, particularly companies like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for 4G infra and BSNL for 2G network. Notably, the carriers are still allowed to service the present equipment, which includes upgrades as well as replacements.
This recent request from the Department of Telecommunication in India comes in the middle of escalating US-China trade tariff tensions. Recently, Donald Trump, the President of the US, raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 145% with a temporary 30-day exemption when it came to certain electronics. In response to this, the Chinese have also imposed their own retaliatory tariffs which stand at 124%.
Piyush Goyal, the commerce and industry minister of India, recently went ahead and criticized the trade practices by the Chinese, which included alleged product dumping. India has also got affected due to US tariff hikes. Trump raised the tariffs on Indian imports to 26%, although he has given a temporary 90-day pause.
On the telecom front, India has 469,000 5G base stations till February 2025, as per the latest figures that have been given by the Ministry of Communications of the country. The ministry has gone on to say that the number of active 5G subscribers in India has surpassed 250 million already during this period. This figure has been attained in less than two and a half years since 5G was commercially launched.
It is now said that 5G coverage now extends across all the states of the country and, to be precise, 99.6% of the districts.
Both Reliance Jio along with Airtel had begun their 5G network rollout in October 2022. At present, they both offer 5G networks in major cities of India. While AIRTEL has so far opted for non-standalone 5G, Jio is offering a standalone 5G technology.
It is well to be noted that Jio ended 2024 with 170 million 5G subscribers, thereby marking a 15% yearly increase and representing 35% of its mobile customer base. On the other hand, Airtel’s 5G subscriber count could reach 120 million in the said period.
Vodafone Idea has become a part of the 5G mix by way of launching its 5G service in Mumbai and has plans to launch its new telecom circles very soon. Vodafone Idea looks forward to deploying 10,000 5G sites throughout 17 service areas in the current fiscal year and rather 12,000 in the next fiscal year.
Vodafone Idea has been carrying out 5G trials in numerous telecom circles throughout the country. As part of its revival plan, Vodafone Idea has also received fresh funds in order to enhance its 4G coverage and deployed 5G to prevent any further subscriber loss.
The state operator, BSNL, had previously confirmed that it had received interest from three service providers for rolling out its 5G standalone network across Delhi, thereby covering 1876 sites. Notably, BSNL first announced the tender to begin the Delhi’s 5G operations in November 2024.