Securing digital networks: NSDT to scrutinise wide range of telecom gear

The government is planning to scrutinise a wide range of telecom equipment, including the core, access, transport, support, and even the equipment on customer premises, for getting the badge of ‘trusted products’ under the National Security Directive on Tele­communications (NSDT).

The directive, which was cleared by the Cabinet committee on security in December last year, stipulates that telecom operators may connect only those new equipment or devices — whether Indian or foreign — which have been designated ‘trusted products’. 

A vendor will be labelled a trusted source for equipment by a designated authority after approval by the National Security Committee on Telecom (NSCT) under the chairmanship of the deputy national security advisor. The policy is set to be implemented by June 15 this year. Talks are on with stakeholders to give NSCT the power to grant waivers on a case-by-case basis to telecom operators seeking permission to use equipment or components or software which might not fall in the trusted category. 

Representatives from the ministry of electronics and information technology, ministry of home affairs, the department for promotion of industry and internal trade, the department of telecommunications, industry and independent experts are part of the talks. It is also being discussed whether an equipment with a certain percentage of secured components will be considered a trusted product, or whether it has to have 100 per cent secured components. The government has said that that it would be seeking elaborate details from multinational original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to evaluate if they can be labelled as a trusted source for equipment. 

Global telecom gear makers say that the new rule will make it difficult for Chinese equipment players to enter the Indian market.

For instance, the companies will have to provide details of the country of registration, global headquarters, details of their board of directors, their nationalities and the shareholding pattern of top 10 shareholders up to three levels. They also have to furnish the geographical breakdown of shareholders, including retail shareholders, and all major changes in ownership in the past three years. 

Even details regarding the locations of manufacturing sites, service delivery centres and of research and development centres have to be provided. That’s not all. The OEMs have to provide the details of the equipment and the software components going into the equipment. These include the name of the component maker, its global headquarters, the country where the intellectual property right (IPR) is owned, the country where the component is manufactured, amongst others. 

In the case of software, the IP owner, the name of sub-contractors used for the development of the software, the country where it has been developed, the country where the software upgrade will happen, whether it will happen automatically, as well as the details of the functionality of the software module, have to be shared.

Telcos and telecom gear players who have had talks with the government say that, except for optic fibre and mobile devices, most key telecom equ­ip­ment will come under scrutiny. In fact, the entire 5G core sub-system, which is the nerve centre of the network, will come under the directive. At the customer premise, too, equipment such as 2G to 5G modems, dongles, pay phones, set-top boxes and cable set top boxes, wireline and wireless PABX will be included.

Key elements of mobile access such as small cells, 5G access equipment, base station systems, broadband access equipment, and so on, are expected to be included. Microwave radio systems are also on the government’s scrutiny list.