After a recent amendment of telco permits, binding the acquisition of network equipment only from ‘trusted sources’, the largest operators have raised their concerns and request a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) from the Indian government to prevent any external actors from potentially hacking the disclosed proprietary information.
“We don’t have any NDA with the government yet to protect all the sensitive and proprietary information being shared with the authorities, and this is a major concern that has been raised with the government and needs to be addressed at the earliest,” a top industry executive aware of the matter said.
Under the new process, network vendors need to provide details of active components that go into a piece of telecom equipment along with the place of manufacture and the company’s headquarters, ownership structure and details on intellectual property rights. Additionally, they have to provide information about the software that powers the equipment.
Thus, ensuring business confidentiality of their submissions on the government’s trusted telecom portal is seen as critical for securing long-term business continuity of their operations in India.
Details
- Publication date
- 30 June 2021