India Emulates US, Australia; Excludes Chinese Firms From 5G Roll-Out Plans 

It has been reported that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has excluded Chinese telecom equipment makers ZTE and Huawei from the list of companies asked to participate in demonstrating 5G use in India. This move by the DoT comes on the heels of the bar on Chinese companies placed by Australia and the United States from participating in the roll-out of next-generation technology.

Concerns abound over Chinese cyber snooping through its telecom equipment manufacturers with the United Kingdom also expressing apprehensions about the engineering processes followed by the companies. The DoT has reportedly written to Cisco, Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung in respect of showcasing India-specific 5G technology uses.

This development should come as a major setback for the Chinese companies as they look to tap into the growing demand for 5G technology and software. Huawei has been facing increased pressure in India even otherwise with revenues projected to fall by 40 per cent as the Indian telecom market consolidates.

It should be noted that the current bar on Chinese companies is not unprecedented as even in 2010, the government had unofficially restricted telecom majors in India from importing and using Chinese telecom equipment over fears that the same would aid espionage.

India is expected to roll-out 5G technology by 2020 in conjunction with other major global economies and the benefits from the same are expected to top $1 trillion.