FCC Chairman Ajit Pai meets DoT Secy, TRAI Chief; discusses 5G, spectrum issues

The US' Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai on Monday met Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash and discussed issues ranging from spectrum to 5G.

However, the two sides did not discuss the contentious issue of participation of Chinese telecom vendors such as Huawei in the futuristic 5G networks.

Chinese telecom gear maker Huawei, which rivals western equipment makers such as Ericsson, is facing curbs in the US.

India, however, had made it clear that government will allocate airwaves to all telecom service providers for conducting trials of super-fast speed 5G networks, and that New Delhi will not bar any equipment suppliers in the upcoming trials for 5G.

Asked about his views on Huawei and if concerns around data security risk from Chinese companies were real, Pai said, "I would refer you to the comments I made previously. So the US Government embraces a risk-based framework domestically and that is a part of the reason why FCC has, in parts, prohibited the use of funding that we oversee from being used by telecom carriages in the US, and equipment and services that have been deemed to be insecure."