The Indian government has launched the beta online portal that lists all the trusted companies and its gears for the telecom operators of India. The beta portal was scheduled to go live on April 15, 2021. The National Cybersecurity Coordinator (NCSC) was designated as the body that will launch the platform. According to a Livemint report, the beta portal is currently accessible to only select operators. Since it is in the beta phase, the government and the developer team will be checking how it is performing and remove any errors or problems from the portal before its official launch, slated for June 15, 2021.
Operators and OEMs to Help Government Collect Sample Data on Gear
The opening of the beta portal is also aimed to help the government collect sample data from the operators and the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) about the different gear that could be included in the trusted list. The official related to the matter said that the government might be able to stay on track given the timely launch of the beta portal and launch the portal officially on June 15, 2021. The NCSC head, Lt. General Rajesh Pant, has been toiling since December 2020 to configure the criteria that will determine which companies and gear will be included in the trusted list of the government. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will be issuing the final list to determine the companies and gear on the ‘trusted’ list. The list will reflect on the final portal that is slated to go live on June 15, 2021. The suppliers and companies can track their applications for being on the trusted list through the portal. The Indian government has taken such a move because of the increasing cybersecurity threats from the neighbouring nation China. That is why Chinese gear makers, including Huawei, which had a great impact on the rollout of 4G in India along with ZTE, aren’t expected to make it to the final list. Huawei still has hopes that the Indian government will make the right call and include it when the final list is released. At the same time, the centre has asked the telcos not to reward any new project to the Chinese vendors for the time being.
