The Indian Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association (TEMA) has said that “too much dependability” on the foreign telecommunication companies for the Indian telecommunication infrastructure might pose a national threat.

TEMA in a communication to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Honorable Minster of Home Affairs P Chidambaram has expressed  fear that Indian telecommunication network might collapse at any critical juncture due to lack of initiative on the part of the UPA Government.

“The United States of America too has similar concerns as India’s. They have taken the issue of large scale use of foreign made equipments in their telecom networks seriously. We are in a much worse condition, as almost all the critical sub systems of our nationwide telecom network have foreign equipment in it and we are not taking any concrete step in mitigating this potential threat which exists by promoting the use of indigenous equipments into the network” said Mr Ashok K. Aggarwal, honorary director general, Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association.

TEMA has drawn government’s attention towards the recent investigation initiated by the US House of Representative’s Permanent Select Committee on Iintelligence I (HPSCI) to gauge the level of threat posed to the United States and take the necessary steps to mitigate the same. The chairman of HPSCI’s concern about the aggressive hacking of US networks and the possible impact on America’s national security which may compromise its competitiveness in the world market.

It also drawn the attention towards the survey where the US Commerce Department has asked for a detailed accounting of foreign-made hardware/software on the service provider’s network along with the information related to security incidents such as discovery of “unauthorized electronic hardware” or suspicious equipment capable of duplicating or redirecting data.

Referring to various media report and occasional statements made by various Government officials regarding the potential threat due to imported and untested telecommunication components present in the telecommunication infrastructure, the TEMA has drawn the attention of the UPA Government towards the recent developments in the United States of America. 

“Our situation is no different than that of the US except that they are proactive, while we have yet to take necessary steps towards correcting the situation”, added Mr. Aggarwal. 

TEMA has suggested the Indian Government to take cognizance of this situation before it reaches an alarming proportion through continuous use of imported equipment. In this context, TEMA has been suggesting to make it mandatory for the Indian telecom service providers to induct homemade equipment for which complete know-how and expertise in available in the country and is not be susceptible to hijacking the control by any foreign country through use of hidden spyware.