Mobile rollout affected by DoT delays on nod for gear imports

New Delhi, June 19:  

Mobile rollouts by telecom companies across the country are getting affected due to delays in network equipment supply.

The delay is happening because the Department of Telecom is sitting on applications seeking approval to import equipment. Some of these applications are more than 400 days old.
Services hit

According to the Cellular Operators’ Association of India, the delay is having an adverse impact on pace of network roll out and services. “Delay in availability of hardware for network upgradation will led to problems of quality of service and call drops which in turn will soon lead to a surge in consumer complaints,” Rajan Mathews, Director General, COAI, the industry body representing GSM operators and equipment suppliers, said in a letter to the DoT Secretary.

The approval for importing telecom gear is given by the Wireless Planning & Coordination (WPC) wing under the DoT. According to a source in DoT, the delay in giving approval is on account of incomplete paperwork from the operators. “They do not submit deployment plans and other related information. We have asked them to complete the application requirements and then we will give clearance,” said a DoT officer. But operators say that the WPC was giving frivolous reasons to hold back approvals.

“It is the same WPC which assigns us spectrum for deploying these equipment and the same WPC asks us to show the frequency under which the imported gear will be used. They already have the information but yet asks us to furnish it again which leads to just more paperwork,” said one of the equipment vendors that has not been able to import a specific network gear ordered by an operator for more than 100 days. Under the existing rule equipment suppliers are required to obtain an import licence from the WPC.

“The ongoing R&D projects at the Indian manufacturing units of the global network vendors also get affected,” COAI added.
spyware issue

The last time DoT delayed permits to import telecom gear was on security grounds in 2010. Security agencies had raised an alarm that foreign gear, especially those imported from China, could have spyware embedded which could allow spy agencies to snoop into India’s telecom networks.

The DoT then formulated detailed guidelines for importing telecom gear under which operators have to get a certificate that the equipment was safe to use.

Source:-www.thehindubusinessline.com