Licensing conditions for telecom companies amended

Licensing conditions for telecom companies amended

Part of: GS Prelims and GS – III – Infrastructure; Telecommunications 

In news

• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has amended the licensing conditions for telecom companies. 
• Now, these will include defence and national security as parameters when purchasing ‘trusted telecom products’ and sourcing equipment from ‘trusted telecom equipment sources’.

Key takeaways 

• This means that the designated authority can cite these two aspects (Defence and national security) and ask telecom companies not to use products which it has deemed unsafe at any time.
• The new norms will come in force from June 15, 2021. 
• After Enforcement, telecom companies will not be able to use any products that do not appear on the trusted telecom equipment source list or the trusted telecom product list.
• If a telecom company wishes to expand its network by using any equipment that does not come from a trusted source, it will have to take prior permission from the National Cyber Security Coordinator.

Do you know? 

• In December 2020, India’s Cabinet Committee on Security approved the setting up of” National Security Directive on telecommunication sector.
• Objective: To classify telecom products and their sources under the ‘trusted’ and ‘non-trusted’ categories.
• The list of products telecom companies will be allowed to use in their network would be approved by the National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC). 
• NCSC will make its decision based on the approval of a committee headed by the deputy National Security Advisor (NSA).