Huawei Appoints Nodal Officer, to Ask for Access to Trusted Telecom Portal

On Tuesday, sources report that Huawei has appointed a nodal officer to coordinate with telcos and the office of the National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) to share details about telecom equipment that telecom operators may agree to buy from it. Sources also add that it will seek approval to access the Trusted Telecom Portal to upload its details.

Huawei Looking for a Way in the Indian Telecom Market

Last week, the Center launched the Trusted Telecom Portal. Telecom vendors such as Nokia, Ericsson, Cisco, HFCL and Indian telcos have already received access. With this move, the Chinese telecom vendor is also looking for access to this portal.

Actually, the DoT has asked all its licensees to appoint a nodal officer. This nodal officer will access the Trusted Telecom Portal on behalf of the company and coordinate with the NCSC. DoT said in a notification on Wednesday, "those licensees who have not submitted Authorization letter for appointing a Nodal Officer for this portal are requested to submit the same to the Designated Authority i.e. National Cyber Security Coordinator on immediate basis".

A source familiar with the matter said, "Huawei is following the process as mandated by the authority. The partners are doing the same. it will wait and watch how it unfolds and if they reject anyone. Huawei has not been banned and they have no intention to do it under the National Security Directive". The source added that Huawei’s nodal officer is working closely with its telco partners’ nodal officers to seek approval through the trusted portal. "OEMs are doing it themselves and through their partners", the person said.

The New Trusted Telecom Portal

The portal will act as a certifying window. All the telecom suppliers that are empanelled with the authority can track approval requests on the portal.

Under the new process, the DoT has asked vendors to provide various details regarding their telecom gear. These details include detailed active components, the place of manufacturing and the company’s headquarters, ownership structure of the organisation and details about the IP rights. They will also have to provide similar information about software that powers the equipment.

However, the NCSC Lt Gen (Retd) Rajesh Pant will decide whether the equipment falls in the 'trusted' category. The NCSC will also define the process of designating equipment trusted or otherwise. Through this initiative, the government is looking to better supervise and facilitate effective control by telcos and designated authority over nationwide telecom networks.

The directive mentioned that, "from among the sources declared as 'trusted sources' by the designated authority, those that meet the criteria of the Department of Telecommunications' preferential market scheme will be certified as Indian trusted sources".