Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE is looking at setting up a manufacturing plant in India even as operators have informed the company that it is yet to clear the security hurdles.
In 2012, ZTE India posted a small rate of growth, realising revenues of $700 million, around half the $1.5 billion it received in 2009, a write up in the state run China Daily titled 'ZTE banks Indian telecom market' said.
India on Thursday sought clarifications and additional information from leading Chinese telecom manufacturing firm ZTE on the issue of security clearance to their equipment.
ZTE Worldwide has plans to launch high-end handsets on Microsoft and Android platforms as well.
Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE on Tuesday hit back at a US House panel report that labeled both the companies as threat to US national security.
Huawei, the other big Chinese vendor, is yet to decide on the issue.
'The huge amount of investments being made by telcos in India for telecom gear, there is no way this demand could be met only by Europeans.' 'The Chinese are quick in installation and offer great value for money.'
Telecom equipment maker ZTE had to overcome strong prejudices to establish itself in India.
The government believes firms which are subject to China's laws could be forced to hand over information to Beijing's security services.
In a major crackdown on Chinese mobile companies, the Income Tax department is conducting searches on leading Chinese mobile companies across the country. Mobile companies including Oppo, Xiaomi and One Plus are being covered in this search, sources told ANI on Wednesday. More than two dozen premises are covered in the search which started on Tuesday. "Raids are ongoing in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Greater Noida, Kolkata, Guwahati, Indore and some other places," sources told ANI.
With Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE excluded from participating in the 5G roll out, their absence leaves a vacuum in the market which will have to be filled by three vendors: Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung.
Given the security dilemma prevailing between India and China, India should curb the operation of Chinese telecom companies in India, asserts Dr Rup Narayan Das.
Will open radio access network technology (O-RAN) disrupt the way 5G networks roll out in the country? After all, it promises to offer a substantially lower capital cost, enables the choice of an array of vendors, and provides more network flexibility - all very important for telcos who expect to invest over Rs 60,000 crore to roll out a pan-India 5G network and that's without spectrum costs. But more importantly, it counters the stranglehold of global telecom gear makers such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung over telcos to whom they sell propriety technology and bundled hardware and software.
The Income-tax department has conducted searches at multiple premises of Chinese telecom company Huawei in the country as part of a tax evasion investigation, official sources said on Wednesday. The raids were launched at the company's premises in Delhi, Gurugram (Haryana) and Bengaluru in Karnataka on Tuesday. Sources said the officials looked at financial documents, account books and company records as part of a tax evasion investigation against the company, its Indian businesses and overseas transactions.
Reliance Jio is close to finalising its contract with telecom gear maker Ericsson to roll out its 5G network in Mumbai and Maharashtra and Kolkata and West Bengal in the first phase of its launch in October. And it is going with Nokia for the lucrative Delhi circle, and Chennai, which includes Tamil Nadu, say sources aware of the development. This is the first time that Jio is opting for multiple vendors.
The announcement quells fears among some telcos that Chinese players might be banned from participating in 5G trials and roll outs.
The income tax department has found alleged manipulation of account books for reducing taxable income in India by Chinese telecom company Huawei whom it raided recently, sources said on Thursday. The searches were conducted on February 15 at the main business and residential premises of "key office bearers" of a multi-national group, engaged in distribution of telecom products and providing captive software development services, the CBDT said in a statement. Sources identified the company as Huawei.
Telecom operator Vodafone Idea is in advance stages of processing order for network capacity expansion in six circles through Chinese telecom gear makers, according to industry sources aware of the development. The order will be only for expansion of existing telecom network capacity where the contract was already awarded to the Chinese vendors, according to the sources.
Indian telecom operators came out in open support of Chinese equipment makers, saying the government cannot deprive Indian consumers of the cutting-edge technology which these companies offer by denying security clearance to them.
The move comes against the backdrop of the US and some of its allies banning the purchase of Chinese telecom gear over security concerns and pressuring other countries to follow suit.
He said that the Communist Party of China has used the COVID-19 pandemic as a smokescreen for ratcheting up their oppression of Hong Kong and advancing their control and influence throughout the region.
SONY XPERIA C3 competes with LAVA IRIS X5 and ZTE V5.
There were reports of a mobile tower being impacted a few months ago in coastal area of Andhra Pradesh that was attributed to hacking by the company's engineers.
Chinese telecom gear giant Huawei Technologies has sought permission for access to the government's 'Trusted Telecom Portal' which went live on June 15 so that it can share details about the telecom products which telecom service providers have agreed to buy from it. The move is significant as sources close to the development say that, according to Chinese telecom companies' interpretation, the new National Security Directive on the telecom sector does not in any way prohibit them from participating in the process of selling telecom equipment of any kind to private telcos. The firm is waiting for a response from the government. It declined to comment.
Chinese telecommunication equipment company ZTE Corporation on Friday said it expects to set up a research and development centre in Bangalore by the year-end.
The sub-$100 smartphone market is dominated by Google's Android operating system, which has lower licensing costs, and runs cheaper hardware.
Just to promote govt's policy of Make in India, BSNL said, it cannot afford to procure sub-standard equipment from inexperienced companies, not having proven technology. BSNL complained that when competitors were procuring world-class 4G equipment from experienced vendors, why should BSNL be compelled to procure locally.
A high-level meeting will be convened soon to decide on probing the India operations of Chinese Telecom companies -- 'Huawei' and 'ZTE' -- against the backdrop of the US calling the two firms a threat to American national security.
The Rs 8,000-cr deal is expected to be finalised early next month.
"I do not think there is any self-imposed deadline for action, but I think we are looking at weeks, not months," White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters aboard Air Force One, flying with President Donald Trump form Atlanta.
The Tata group's tryst with mobile services, with either CDMA or GSM technology, did not really fly, forcing it to close operations and write off losses. Now the group is back in the big game, this time straddling the telecom equipment, network and technology space in India as well as the global market. To this end, it is leveraging the opportunities that flow from 5G technology through open radio access network, or O-RAN. Recently, the Tata Sons' subsidiary Panatone Finvest acquired 43.3 per cent in Bengaluru-based telecom equipment manufacturer Tejas Network for Rs 1,850 crore and announced it would buy another 26 per cent of the voting capital through an open offer.
With China's export markets shrinking in US and EU, its businessmen are increasingly turning to India, making a mark on the fast-evolving Indian markets, a report in the Chinese official media said.
The government is concerned about the spyware and malware associated with imported telecom gear. India had demanded that global telecom gear makers place source codes and design elements in an escrow account.
Everyone who has looked at a tablet PC and backed off because of the price will see sense in the Reliance 3G Tab, an Android tablet PC that costs just Rs 13,000 (data prices extra).
Breaking its silence on reports that Chinese telecom equipment makers are being banned in India on security reasons, Beijing on Monday urged New Delhi to remove restrictions and said such curbs amount to discrimination.
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