All Equipment, Systems to Power 5G Rollout Being Procured from Trusted Sources: Govt

Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Communications, told Lok Sabha that all equipment, components, and systems to aid India’s 5G rollout had been procured from “trusted sources. This was ins response to a question raised by Mr. Manish Tewari, Minister of Congress, who wanted to know whether the government refused to allow the Chinese company Huawei to participate in 5G trials because it was “deemed to be a security risk.”

“Without taking the name of any particular company, I would like to say that whatever procurement has happened for 5G is happening under the trusted sources regime,” the minister said in his reply during the Zero Hour.

He said “discussions and dialogues” are happening worldwide on the issue of acquiring from safe sources telecom devices, which have severe consequences for technology-based security.

He also added, “We moved ahead of the curve and actually decided to have a trusted source regime in which equipment, components systems, we buy within the country for the use in country, will be procured only from the trusted sources,

While replying to another member’s question, he said that the amount of investment required for the rollout of the 5G technology is “the biggest challenge” telecom companies are “seeing” today.

“The government is very well cognisant of it. That’s why the government has taken a very big step in terms of reforming some of the legacy issues which were there,” he said.