http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/01/business/global/01delhi.html?ref=global-home
April 30, 2010 India Imposes Partial Ban on Chinese Telecom Equipment By HEATHER TIMMONS NEW DELHI - The Indian government is banning the purchase of some Chinese-made telecommunications equipment, one of the largest private mobile operators in India said Friday. This week, the government told the mobile operator that it could not go through with the planned purchase of equipment from UT Starcom, a company that is based in California but has most of its employees and managers in China. The government said some orders were "good to go, and these were not" said an executive from the Indian company, who did not want to be identified because the government has not made this policy official. A spokesman from UT Starcom said he was looking into the situation. A spokesman for the Department of Telecommunications in India, S. Prakash, said he could not speak specifically about UT Starcom. "That might have happened," he said. "The government has not banned any particular equipment or manufacturer" Mr. Prakash said, and decides "on a case by case basis" whether to allow deals to happen. "This happens everywhere," the spokesman said, because "telecommunications devices are likely to get misused." The Indian government requires Indian mobile operators to get security clearance before purchasing equipment. The mobile phone companies submit details to the Department of Telecommunications, which forwards the information to the Ministry of Home Affairs for security clearance. The Ministry of Home Affairs said Friday it could not comment on the issue at all. The Financial Times reported Thursday that the Indian government has banned all Chinese equipment on security concerns, citing a memo from the telecommunications department. Mr. Prakash said Friday morning that he was "not aware" of any such memo. On March 18, the Department of Telecommunications clarified their security clearance rules, adding that the "operation and maintenance of Telecom networks should be entirely by Indian engineers" and the "dependence on foreign engineers should be minimal or almost nil" within two years from purchase, according to a memo posted on the department's Web site. In addition, Indian telecommunications companies are required to demand that foreign manufacturers transfer their technology to make "critical" equipment and software within three years from a sale, the memo said. Any Indian telecom that does not enforce the transfer of technology could face criminal proceedings, the Department of Telecommunications said.
