The Home Ministry has reportedly raised concerns over Huawei based on the stance taken by the US regarding the Chinese firm.
The government is yet to take a call on whether Chinese firms should be allowed to participate in the 5G trials in India, which are going to commence soon.
Citing sources in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Financial Express reported that various ministries are still considering over Huawei.
The Home Ministry feels that cyber security should be a top priority and has reportedly raised concerns over Huawei based on the stance taken by the US regarding the Chinese firm.
According to the report, companies including Huawei, Ericsson, Samsung have already applied to DoT for 5G trials. Nokia is yet to officially approach the DoT, though the company has expressed desire to do trials with state-run BSNL.
It is also learned that Airtel has sought permission for 5G trials with both Huawei and Ericsson in different locations.
While Vodafone Idea has submitted a joint application with Huawei for trials, Reliance Jio is teaming up with Samsung to conduct trials, Financial Express report said.
Mention may be made here that Huawei had got permission from the DoT to conduct 5G trials in India in October. But until it gets a go-ahead nod, spectrum will not be allocated to it for trials.
Meanwhile, the company has already started working with Bharti Airtel for a laboratory test on the 5G technology.
90-day period to test 5G spectrum
The telecom companies have been demanding to increase the duration for allocating 5G spectrum for trials to at least one year. The current rules of the DoT allow allocation of trial spectrum only for three months (90 days), but feel it is “too” less a time.
This has become a roadblock for faster rollout of 5G trials. However, DoT sources have now confirmed to FE that the issue will soon be resolved, and trials will commence shortly.
